Effect of Neiguan and Gongsun acupuncture on gastric electrical rhythm after gastric cancer surgery

Table 1 Comparison of baseline data between two groups, n (%)

Item	Study group (n = 60)	Control group (n = 60)	t/χ2	P value
Age (years, mean ± SD)	58.4 ± 12.3	60.1 ± 11.7	-0.786	0.434
Gender			0.267	0.605
Male	36 (60.0)	39 (65.0)
Female	24 (40.0)	21 (35.0)
BMI (kg/m², mean ± SD)	22.1 ± 3.4	21.8 ± 3.2	0.512	0.610
Gastric cancer pathological type			1.429	0.699
Adenocarcinoma	48 (80.0)	51 (85.0)
Signet ring cell carcinoma	8 (13.3)	6 (10.0)
Others	4 (6.7)	3 (5.0)
Surgical method			0.698	0.705
Total gastrectomy	15 (25.0)	18 (30.0)
Distal subtotal gastrectomy	32 (53.3)	29 (48.3)
Proximal subtotal gastrectomy	13 (21.7)	13 (21.7)
Postoperative time (months, mean ± SD)	3.2 ± 1.8	3.5 ± 2.1	-0.846	0.399
Past medical history
Hypertension	18 (30.0)	22 (36.7)	0.616	0.433
Diabetes	8 (13.3)	11 (18.3)	0.571	0.450
Coronary heart disease	5 (8.3)	7 (11.7)	0.380	0.537
Comorbid conditions
Gastroesophageal reflux disease	12 (20.0)	15 (25.0)	0.437	0.509
Chronic gastritis	8 (13.3)	10 (16.7)	0.267	0.605
Irritable bowel syndrome	4 (6.7)	6 (10.0)	0.434	0.510
Preoperative gastroscopy results			0.847	0.838
Gastric antrum lesions	28 (46.7)	31 (51.7)
Gastric body lesions	18 (30.0)	16 (26.7)
Gastric fundus lesions	9 (15.0)	8 (13.3)
Diffuse lesions	5 (8.3)	5 (8.3)

BMI: Body mass index.

Table 2 Comparison of Nepean Dyspepsia Index score changes between two groups (mean ± SD, points)

Group	Cases	Before treatment	After 4 weeks treatment	4 weeks follow-up
Study group	60	72.4 ± 8.9	38.2 ± 12.1a	43.8 ± 13.2
Control group	60	73.1 ± 9.2	52.7 ± 14.3	56.2 ± 15.6
F value		Between-group effect: 28.45	Time effect: 89.67	Interaction effect: 6.38
P value		< 0.001	< 0.001	0.003

^aP < 0.025 after Bonferroni correction (α = 0.025) vs control group at the same period.

Table 3 Comparison of Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale score changes between two groups (mean ± SD, points)

Group	Cases	Before treatment	After 2 weeks	After 4 weeks	4 weeks follow-up
Study group	60	58.3 ± 11.2	43.8 ± 10.2	29.7 ± 8.4a	34.5 ± 10.1
Control group	60	59.1 ± 10.8	46.5 ± 10.4	36.8 ± 10.3	40.2 ± 11.8
F value		Between-group effect: 24.86	Time effect: 112.45	Interaction effect: 8.32
P value		< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001

^aP < 0.017 after Bonferroni correction (α = 0.017) vs control group at the same period.

Table 4 Comparison of serum motilin and gastrin level changes between two groups (mean ± SD)

Group	Cases	MLT (pg/mL)		GAS (ng/L)
		Before treatment	After 4 weeks	Before treatment	After 4 weeks
Study group	60	86.3 ± 15.2	108.7 ± 16.8a	78.4 ± 12.6	68.5 ± 11.2a
Control group	60	87.1 ± 14.8	96.8 ± 15.3	79.2 ± 13.1	75.6 ± 12.4
t value		-0.291	4.126	-0.337	-2.187
P value		0.772	< 0.001	0.737	0.031

^aIndependent samples t-test P < 0.001 (motilin) or P < 0.05 (gastrin) vs control group at the same period.

MLT: Motilin; GAS: Gastrin.

Table 5 Comparison of Traditional Chinese medicine symptom scale score changes between two groups (mean ± SD, points)

Group	Cases	Before treatment	After 2 weeks	After 4 weeks	4 weeks follow-up
Study group	60	13.2 ± 2.8	9.2 ± 2.6	5.8 ± 2.1a	6.8 ± 2.5
Control group	60	13.5 ± 2.6	10.7 ± 2.8	7.6 ± 2.4	8.3 ± 2.7
F value		Between-group effect: 35.67	Time effect: 156.32	Interaction effect: 11.24
P value		< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001

^aP < 0.017 after Bonferroni correction (α = 0.017) vs control group at the same period.