Effects of Transcutaneous Electrical Acustimulation on Refractory Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Abstract EN

Objective.

To investigate effects and possible mechanisms of transcutaneous electrical acustimulation (TEA) performed by a wearable watch-size stimulator for refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (RGERD).

Methods.

Twenty patients diagnosed as RGERD were enrolled in the study and randomly divided into four groups: esomeprazole group (Group A), esomeprazole combined with TEA group (Group B), esomeprazole combined with sham-TEA group (Group C), and esomeprazole combined with domperidone group (Group D).

HRM and 24 h pH-impedance monitoring and GerdQ score were used to measure related indexes before and after treatment.

Results.

(1) TEA significantly increased LESP, compared with PPI treatment only or PPI plus sham-TEA.

After pairwise comparison, LESP of Group B was increased more than Group A ( P = 0.008 ) or Group C ( P = 0.021 ).

(2) PPI plus TEA decreased not only the number of acid reflux episodes but also the number of weak acid reflux episodes ( P = 0.005 ).

(3) Heartburn and reflux symptoms were improved more with PPI + TEA than with PPI treatment only or PPI plus sham-TEA (GerdQ scores, P = 0.001 ).

Conclusion.

TEA can improve symptoms in RGERD patients by increasing LESP and decreasing events of weak acid reflux and acid reflux; addition of TEA to esomeprazole significantly enhances the effect of TEA.