Electrodermal Activity of Auricular Acupoints in Pediatric Patients with Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders.

OBJECTIVES Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPD) affect approximately 13.5% of children. Pharmacotherapy is often ineffective, leaving providers and families seeking adjunctive therapies. Auriculotherapy provides treatment for pain and other symptoms, without a defined protocol for FAPD. A handheld point-finder device measuring transdermal electrical current determines active acupoints, with higher current indicating a more active acupoint. Our objectives were to determine auricular acupoint (AA) activity in FAPD and to assess participants' attitudes towards auriculotherapy. METHODS This is a prospective double-blind study evaluating electrodermal activity of AAs in pediatric-aged female participants with FAPD compared to healthy controls (HC). Participants completed surveys regarding demographics and interest in auriculotherapy. The electrodermal assessment evaluated 20 AAs per ear using a point-finder device. Each AA current measurement was analyzed by average relative rank and median, with a median current measurement ≥50 μA considered active. RESULTS We enrolled 46 female participants, 22 FAPD (mean age 15.8 years) and 24 HC (mean age 15.4 years). In FAPD, 12/40 AAs were active, of which only 6 were also active in HC. Comparison of median current and average ranking between participants demonstrated consistency. In the post-assessment survey, 86.4% of FAPD expressed interest in receiving auricular acupressure and 68.2% would travel to clinic solely for treatment. CONCLUSIONS Based on electrodermal measurements, we propose a treatment protocol using auriculotherapy for FAPD symptom-management. We demonstrated there is considerable patient interest in auriculotherapy. Further studies are needed to confirm the findings in a larger sample size and validate the efficacy of this treatment protocol. ABSTRACT An infographic is available for this article at:http://links.lww.com/MPG/C322.