2023-06-06 12:57:23
A French study whose results have just been published on United European Gastroenterolology Journal assessed the effectiveness of a new non-drug, non-invasive treatment for chronic constipation: interference current therapy.
In this randomized trial, 185 patients received either treatment (N = 97) with a device delivering electrical stimulation for 1 hour daily, daily for 8 weeks, or a control procedure with a device delivering no stimulation (N = 88).
The primary endpoint was efficacy at the 8e week of treatment, defined as the number of spontaneous stools over the last 4 weeks. Secondary outcomes included improvement in constipation-related symptoms (abdominal pain, rectal symptoms, etc.) and quality of life, self-assessed by the patients.
If the proportion of participants responding to treatment according to the primary endpoint (number of stools) was not significantly different between the two groups (73.2% in the treated group versus 67.1% in the control group), self-report symptom and quality of life scores were significantly improved by treatment.
The authors thus underline the need to take into account a wider range of criteria to assess the effectiveness of treatments for constipation, the pathology itself involving a constellation of symptoms and discomforts experienced by patients, beyond the number of stools.
To know more : Vitton V, Mion F, Leroi AM, et al. Interferential therapy for chronic constipation in adults: The CON-COUR randomized controlled trial. United European Gastroenterol J 2023;11(4):337-49.
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#Chronic #constipation #adults #Practitioners #Review