| Objective: To observe the clinical effect of acupuncture on neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) after spinal cord injury based on 3D high-resolution anorectal manometry (3D HR-ARM). Methods: Forty patients with traumatic spinal cord injury in Tianjin Union Medicine Centre were selected and divided into control group and research group randomly. The control group received conventional rehabilitation therapy, and the research group received acupuncture combined with conventional rehabilitation therapy. The patients were assessed by 3D HR ARM, American Spine Injury Association (ASIA) scale, NBD scale and Barthel index (BI). Results: After treatment, the anal sphincter systolic pressure, rectal pressure, rectoanal pressure differential, BI and ASIA scores in the research group and the control group were significantly higher (P<0.05), and the threshold value and NBD score were significantly lower (P<0.05) than those before treatment. There was no significant difference in the resting pressure and high pressure bend length before and after treatment. Among them, there were significant differences in the anal sphincter systolic pressure, rectal pressure, rectoanal pressure differential and the threshold value between two groups (P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the anal sphincter systolic pressure and BI score were positively correlated with ASIA score (P<0.05), while threshold value and NBD score were negatively correlated with ASIA score (P<0.05). Conclusions: Acupuncture combined with conventional rehabilitation therapy can improve the intestinal function of patients more effectively. The 3D HR-ARM results are correlated with the score evaluation, which is expected to be an objective evaluation index of neurogenic intestinal efficacy. |
