OBJECTIVETo observe the TCM therapy for invigorating Pi, soothing Gan, eliminating dampness and resolving blood stasis (TCM-T) on the short-term quality of life (stQOL) in patients with diarrhea type irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D).

METHODSOne hundred and twenty-five patients with IBS-D were assigned to 3 groups, Group A was treated with TCM-T; Group B treated with some selected Chinese patent drugs according to patients' syndrome types, such as Changweikang granule, Guben Yichang tablet, Bupi Yichang pill and Shenling Baizhu pill, Group C treated with Western medicines as Dicetel 50 mg, Oryzanol 10 mg, and Bifid triple viable 420 mg, 3 times daily by oral administration. The therapeutic course was 4 weeks for all. The stQOL was evaluated and compared by SF-36 scale before and after treatment.

RESULTSComparison between groups on the scores for the 8 dimensions of SF-36 scale, i.e., physiological function (PF), role physical (RP), body pain (BP), global health (GH), vitality (VT), society function (SF), emotional effect (RE), and mental health (MH), showed no significant difference before treatment, but scores of all the 8 dimensions were improved significantly in Group A after treatment (P < 0.05), with scores of SF, BP, GH and MH superior to those in Group B (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and scores of RP, GH, SF, RE, PF and MH superior to those in Group C (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONTCM-T has favorable effect in treating IBS-D, it could improve the stQOL of patients.