Research progress of moxibustion in treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: 艾灸治疗肠易激综合征的研究进展

ABSTRACT As the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy, moxibustion includes many techniques, such as Chinese herb-isolated moxibustion, heat-sensitive moxibustion, mild moxibustion and warming needling. Through multiple functions of moxibustion, e.g. heat stimulation, meridian conductivity and drug effect, moxibustion brings the therapeutic effect into play, thus, it displays a certain advantage in treatment of Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In clinical practice, moxibustion therapy is widely used in the treatment of IBS and has achieved certain therapeutic effect. It is found in clinical and experimental researches that moxibustion may achieve the therapeutic effect by means of the intervention of visceral hypersensitivity, gastrointestinal hormone, gastrointestinal motility, brain-gut axis, intestinal flora, etc. But, the specific mechanism remains to be further explored. In this paper, the current status of treatment and research progress are summarized and reflected so as to provide ideas for future research and application.