ABSTRACT
RATIONALE: Hiccups are a common clinical symptom, and persistent hiccups and intractable hiccups severely impair the individual's quality of life. To date, there has been no effective treatment specifically for hiccups. Herein, we report 2 cases with intractable or persistent hiccups that were successfully treated with extracranial acupuncture. PATIENT CONCERNS: The first case is a 46-year-old woman who presented with a 7-year history of intractable hiccups that had worsened over the past 3 years. She also complained of chest tightness, dyspnea, palpitations, dreaminess, dysphoria, intolerance of cold, and hypohidrosis. The second case is a 75-year-old man who presented with a 7-day history of persistent hiccups and hematemesis for 3âhours. The patient's persistent hiccups were treated using traditional Chinese acupuncture, but the patient reported no remarkable benefit. DIAGNOSES: They were diagnosed as intractable or persistent hiccups. INTERVENTIONS: They were treated with extracranial acupuncture. OUTCOMES: The hiccups completely disappeared. During the follow-up period, the hiccups did not reappear. LESSONS: According to neural balance theory, an episode of the hiccups is caused by an imbalance of the nervous system. Extracranial acupuncture in the area adjacent to the external occipital protuberance affects the intracranial nervous system, which can effectively control the hiccups. Our study provides a new approach to the treatment of hiccups.
Subject(s)
Acupuncture Therapy/methods , Hiccup/diagnosis , Hiccup/therapy , Acupuncture Therapy/trends , Aftercare , Aged , Female , Hiccup/psychology , Humans , Male , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods , Middle Aged , Quality of Life , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Persistent and intractable hiccups bring serious inconvenience to patients' work and daily life, and impair their quality of life. Relevant studies showed that acupuncture therapy might be effective in treating persistent and intractable hiccups. However, there is no consistent conclusion so far. The aim of our research is to investigate the safeties and effectiveness of acupuncture in treating patients with persistent and intractable hiccups. METHODS: We will search randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using acupuncture therapy to treat persistent and intractable hiccups in the following 6 English electronic databases and 3 Chinese electronic databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Allied and Alternative Medicine (AMED), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP) and Wanfang data. The cure rate and the total effective rate will be considered as the primary outcomes. Complete cessation within a given period post-treatment of hiccups, changes in frequency or intensity of hiccups, concomitant symptom score, and adverse events will be considered as secondary outcomes. We will use Endnote software 9.1 for studies selection, Review Manager software 5.3, and STATA 13.0 software for analysis and synthesis. RESULTS: we will synthesize current studies to evaluate the the safeties and effectiveness of acupuncture for persistent and intractable hiccups. CONCLUSION: Our study will provide evidence of acupuncture therapy for persistent and intractable hiccups.