Combined Scalp and Ear Acupuncture in Patients With Proton Pump Inhibitor- Dependent Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
Condition: Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD); Neurology
MeSH terms: Gastroesophageal Reflux; Esophagitis, Peptic
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      According to the statistics of the National Health Insurance Administration Ministry of
      Health and Welfare, the number of patients about gastroesophageal reflux disease has
      increased from 610,000 to over 760,000 in the past three years (2016-2018). Western medicine
      mainly uses proton pump inhibitors to improve symptoms. For patients who are ineffective in
      drug treatment, it will be treated by surgical treatment (Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication,
      endoluminal gastroplication).
    

Detailed description: 
      According to the statistics of the National Health Insurance Administration Ministry of
      Health and Welfare, the number of patients about gastroesophageal reflux disease has
      increased from 610,000 to over 760,000 in the past three years (2016-2018). Western medicine
      mainly uses proton pump inhibitors to improve symptoms. For patients who are ineffective in
      drug treatment, it will be treated by surgical treatment (Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication,
      endoluminal gastroplication).

      However, it is easy to cause problems such as difficulty swallowing or recurrence
      postoperatively. In recent years, more and more integrated treatment studies of Chinese and
      Western medicine have found that acupuncture can improve the refractory gastroesophageal
      reflux disease and can provide patients with another non-surgical treatment. Traditional
      acupuncture is mainly based on distinguishing diseases (mainly according to Western medicine
      disease diagnosis, to perform acupoint selection.), dialectics and verification (based on
      clinical experience, some stimulation areas with outstanding effects on certain symptoms are
      selected for acupuncture). These methods are used as the standard for acupoint selection.
      This research plan intends to use scalp and ear acupuncture to identify diseases and select
      points for verification. Combined with the basics of western medicine, embryology and
      neurophysiology, the investigators will further explore what is the mechanism of acupuncture
      to improve the symptoms in patients with refractory gastroesophageal reflux. If this
      mechanism can be clarified, it will reduce the patient's overuse of drugs and the cost of
      surgery in the future, which will be a big boon for Taiwanese health and finances of health
      insurance.
    

Intervention name(s): the scalp and ear acupuncture; sham acupuncture
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Some stimulation areas with outstanding effects on certain symptoms are selected for acupuncture; Some stimulation areas with outstanding effects on certain symptoms are selected for acupuncture, and change acupuncture to auricular points sticker.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Acupuncture