Therapeutic effects of Buzhong Yiqi decoction in patients with spleen and stomach qi deficiency after routine surgery and chemotherapy for colorectal cancer

Table 1 Comparison of general data between the two groups (mean ± SD)

Group		Control group (n = 50)	Observation group (n = 50)	t/χ2	P value
Age (years, mean ± SD)		47.12 ± 13.37	46.97 ± 14.21	0.246	0.806
Sex, n (%)	Male	25 (50.00)	27 (54.00)	0.160	0.689
	Female	25 (50.00)	23 (46.00)
BMI (kg/m2)		21.62 ± 4.03	21.36 ± 3.84	0.453	0.652
History of smoking, n (%)		7 (14.00)	6 (12.00)	0.088	0.766
History of alcohol use, n (%)		10 (20.00)	12 (24.00)	0.629	0.629

BMI: Body mass index.

Table 2 Comparison of traditional Chinese medicine syndrome and Karnofsky performance status scores before and after treatment (mean ± SD)

Group	Abdominal bloating		Anesthesia		Emaciation		Loose stool		Loss of appetite		Vomit		KPS score
	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively
Control group (n = 50)	1.98 ± 0.40	1.33 ± 0.37a	1.87 ± 0.32	1.46 ± 0.22a	1.96 ± 0.51	1.02 ± 0.46a	1.81 ± 0.47	1.00 ± 0.50a	1.94 ± 0.34	1.52 ± 0.28a	1.92 ± 0.45	1.21 ± 0.40a	69.78 ± 6.98	78.13 ± 7.21a
Observation group (n = 50)	1.93 ± 0.42	0.74 ± 0.21a	1.84 ± 0.30	1.10 ± 0.17a	2.00 ± 0.50	0.67 ± 0.38a	1.77 ± 0.45	0.61 ± 0.36a	1.90 ± 0.31	1.18 ± 0.20a	1.94 ± 0.42	0.79 ± 0.31a	68.12 ± 6.77	83.32 ± 6.54a
t value	0.969	9.717	0.289	0.770	0.555	4.319	0.393	4.516	0.923	7.201	0.251	5.633	1.533	4.307
P value	0.335	< 0.001	0.773	0.443	0.580	< 0.001	0.695	< 0.001	0.358	< 0.001	0.803	< 0.001	0.129	< 0.001

^aP < 0.05 vs before treatment.

KPS: Karnofsky performance status.

Table 3 Comparison of immune function before and after treatment between the two groups (mean ± SD)

Index		Control group (n = 50)	Observation group (n = 50)	t value	P value
CD3+ (%)	1 d preoperatively	55.31 ± 3.72	55.86 ± 3.88	1.448	0.151
	14 d postoperatively	59.03 ± 4.26a	64.32 ± 4.67a	6.025	< 0.001
CD4+ (%)	1 d preoperatively	28.26 ± 4.46	28.84 ± 4.62	0.132	0.895
	14 d postoperatively	29.16 ± 4.53	31.78 ± 3.46a	3.619	< 0.001
CD8+ (%)	1 d preoperatively	26.89 ± 4.33	26.77 ± 4.67	0.077	0.939
	14 d postoperatively	20.67 ± 3.35a	23.77 ± 3.24a	4.576	< 0.001
CD4+/CD8+ (%)	1 d preoperatively	1.17 ± 0.26	1.11 ± 0.24	1.088	0.279
	14 d postoperatively	1.32 ± 0.18a	1.63 ± 0.19a	10.051	< 0.001
NK cell (%)	1 d preoperatively	16.23 ± 1.46	16.75 ± 1.49	1.558	0.122
	14 d postoperatively	17.31 ± 1.17	20.45 ± 1.01a	13.240	< 0.001
IgG (g/L)	1 d preoperatively	6.21 ± 1.53	6.07 ± 1.47	0.405	0.686
	14 d postoperatively	8.77 ± 1.78a	11.24 ± 1.58a	7.882	< 0.001
IgA (g/L)	1 d preoperatively	2.12 ± 0.32	2.04 ± 0.36	1.110	0.270
	14 d postoperatively	2.57 ± 0.40a	2.89 ± 0.38a	4.144	< 0.001
IgM (g/L)	1 d preoperatively	1.89 ± 0.33	1.85 ± 0.29	0.578	0.565
	14 d postoperatively	1.97 ± 0.34a	2.29 ± 0.38a	14.364	< 0.001

^aP < 0.05 vs before treatment.

CD3+: Cluster of differentiation 3; CD4+: Cluster of differentiation 4; CD8+: Cluster of differentiation 8; IgA: Immunoglobulin A; IgG: Immunoglobulin G; IgM: Immunoglobulin M; NK: Natural killer.

Table 4 Comparison of inflammatory mediators before and after treatment between the two groups (mean ± SD)

Index		Control group (n = 50)	Observation group (n = 50)	t value	P value
IL-10 (ng/L)	1 d preoperatively	8.73 ± 1.97	8.62 ± 2.01	1.012	0.849
	14 d postoperatively	10.21 ± 2.14a	15.32 ± 2.43a	11.311	< 0.001
IL-6 (ng/L)	1 d preoperatively	7.41 ± 1.16	7.29 ± 1.07	0.190	0.314
	14 d postoperatively	20.78 ± 3.46a	16.72 ± 3.28a	5.733	< 0.001
TNF-α (ng/mL)	1 d preoperatively	18.21 ± 4.21	18.73 ± 4.56	0.701	0.485
	14 d postoperatively	34.32 ± 5.02a	22.31 ± 4.94a	12.060	< 0.001
CRP (mg/L)	1 d preoperatively	6.45 ± 0.37	6.53 ± 0.34	1.802	0.075
	14 d postoperatively	31.68 ± 3.72a	19.27 ± 3.45a	17.097	< 0.001

^aP < 0.05 vs before treatment.

CRP: C-reactive protein; IL-6: Interleukin-6; IL-10: Interleukin-10; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

Table 5 Comparison of tumor biological indexes before and after treatment (mean ± SD)

Group	CEA (ng/mL)		CA19-9 (U/mL)		VEGF (ng/mL)		TSGF (U/mL)
	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 d postoperatively	1 d preoperatively	14 ds postoperatively
Control group (n = 50)	27.11 ± 5.72	22.12 ± 4.79a	46.31 ± 5.78	40.32 ± 4.78a	60.28 ± 10.97	40.31 ± 8.12a	74.31 ± 7.26	69.28 ± 6.14a
Observation group (n = 50)	26.58 ± 5.87	18.33 ± 4.13a	45.87 ± 5.43	36.53 ± 4.01a	61.09 ± 11.76	31.53 ± 9.46a	73.29 ± 7.53	63.28 ± 6.03a
t value	0.671	4.428	0.148	4.420	0.811	4.905	0.160	4.777
P value	0.504	< 0.001	0.883	< 0.001	0.42	< 0.001	0.873	< 0.001

^aP < 0.05 vs before treatment.

CA19-9: Cancer antigen 19-9; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; TSGF: Tumor specific growth factor; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor.

Table 6 Comparison of SF-36 scores between the two groups after treatment (mean ± SD)

Index	Control group (n = 50)	Observation group (n = 50)	t value	P value
SF-36 score	81.62 ± 7.33	92.26 ± 9.33	6.982	< 0.001

Table 7 Occurrence of adverse reactions in the two groups during treatment, n (%)

Group	Nausea and vomiting	Abdominal bloating	Incision infection	Anastomotic fistula	Gastric retention	Anemia	Total occurrence
Control group (n = 50)	4 (8.00)	5 (10.00)	3 (6.00)	2 (4.00)	0 (0.00)	1 (2.00)	15 (30.00)
Observation group (n = 50)	1 (2.00)	1 (2.00)	2 (4.00)	1 (2.00)	1 (2.00)	0 (0.00)	6 (12.00)
χ2							4.882
P value							0.027