Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders, and is common in childhood. It is characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort with no organic or metabolic etiology. The abdominal pain and discomfort are associated with changes in defecation or stool form. We report a pediatric patient with IBS, who was successfully treated with acupuncture and moxibustion.
The patient was a 10-year-old girl, who had developed IBS 3 years previously. She had abdominal pain accompanied by bowel movements with soft stool five times per day. The patient was treated with acupuncture and moxibustion according to the theories of traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, we used the Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale (GSRS) to evaluate her quality of life. She received acupuncture and moxibustion treatment at two sessions/week during the first 6 weeks, followed by only one session/week later. One month after the treatment was started, her GSRS score began to improve and her abdominal pain and bowel movements were reduced. Compared with baseline, her GSRS score was improved at 2 months and 1 year after the acupuncture was started. In conclusion, acupuncture and moxibustion treatment was effective in the present pediatric IBS patient.

“Cardiac Cycle: The First Step, ” which discretely, non-ambiguously, and accurately presents basic essential information on the cardiac cycle, was compared with conventional material in terms of educational efficiency. Twenty-six first-year medical students were randomly assigned to either material. The conventional group was presented with a standard textbook with a typical figure and text. The students were blinded as to the origin of the materials. After self-study, the same quiz (30 two-item choice questions asking basic essential information) was given to both groups and was scored by a blinded rater. The number of correct answers was 25.7±3.7 (mean±SD) in the conventional group and 29.4±1.1 in the ‘first-step group’(p<0.01).