Electro-acupuncture for Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Constipation

Brief Summary

The aim of the clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electro-acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) patients. 60 IBS-C patients will be randomized and allocated to either the electro-acupuncture arm or the sham acupuncture arm. We hypothesize that electro-acupuncture would result in superior symptom improvement compared to sham acupuncture. In addition, biological samples (blood, urine, and stool) will be collected during the trial for future exploratory studies. These samples will be used to investigate changes in gut microbiota composition and related metabolites. These analyses aim to explore potential mechanistic links between electro-acupuncture interventions and clinical outcomes in subsequent research. Apart from the IBS-C participants, 30 healthy volunteers aged 21 to 65 years (inclusive) will be recruited to provide blood, urine, and stool samples. These samples will serve as a reference for comparative analyses with those from IBS-C patients before and after electro-acupuncture treatment. The healthy controls will not receive any interventions.