OBJECTIVETo observe the short- and long-term efficacy of acupuncture combined with biofeedback in the treatment of functional anorectal pain (FARP).

METHODSClinical data of 142 patients who met the functional gastrointestinal disorders and functional anorectal pain based on criteria of Rome III( undergoing acupuncture with biofeedback therapy from August 2010 to November 2015 in Pelvic Floor Center of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine were retrospectively analyzed. Telephone and outpatient clinic recheck were used as standard follow-up. The clinical effect of short-term and long-term data collected from the disease-based database was evaluated with visual analogue pain scale (VAS) (0-10 points), short form health survey questionnaire (SF-36) (0-148 points). The overall satisfaction and effectiveness (VAS was >30%) were evaluated at the end of treatment (short-term) and during follow-up (long-term).

RESULTSThe effective follow-up data were obtained from 71.1%(101/142) of patients and the median follow-up time was 28(3-67) months. The VAS of 101 cases was 6.09±1.78, 1.99±1.89 and 3.55±2.60 before treatment, at the end of treatment and during follow-up respectively. Though the VAS during follow-up was higher than that at the end of treatment, but still significantly lower than that before treatment(P<0.05). The SF-36 score of 31 patients was 82.0±16.9, 94.0±15.1 and 88.1±15.3 before treatment, at the end of treatment and during follow-up respectively. Though the SF-36 score during follow-up was lower compared to at the end of treatment, but still significantly higher compared to before treatment (P<0.05). The effective rates were 85.9%(122/142) at the end of treatment and 75.2%(76/101) during follow-up, and the satisfactory rates were 92.3%(131/142) and 84.2%(85/101), respectively.

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture with biofeedback has significant short-term and long-term efficacy in treating functional anorectal pain, and its degree of satisfaction is high.