Agreement of gastroenterologists in traditional Chinese medical differential diagnosis of functional dyspepsia compared with traditional Chinese medical practitioners: A prospective, multicenter study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo compare the performance of gastroenterologists major in western medicine in diagnosing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome types of functional dyspepsia (FD), postprandial distress (PDS) and epigastric pain syndromes (EPS) based on the main symptoms, with that of traditional TCM practitioners in outpatient services.MethodsPatients with PDS or EPS were enrolled in the study from six tertiary referral centers between January 2016 and December 2017. Their symptoms were first diagnosed by medical doctors, and then by the TCM practitioners. The diagnostic agreement between the gastroenterologists and the TCM practitioners was calculated. The patients’ data and their types of FD syndrome were collected and analyzed.ResultsIn total 160 patients, including 81 with PDS and 79 with EPS were enrolled. The total diagnostic consistency rate between the gastroenterologists and TCM practitioners was 86.3%, while that of PDS and EPS was 85.2% and 87.3%, respectively. The most common type of PDS diagnosed by TCM practitioners was liver‐stomach disharmony syndrome (33.3%), spleen deficiency and qi‐stagnation syndrome (33.3%), while that for EPS was liver‐stomach disharmony syndrome (36.7%).ConclusionsGastroenterologists had a high diagnostic agreement about the types of FD syndromes based on differential diagnosis of the main symptoms, compared with TCM practitioners. This may aid gastroenterologists in selecting Chinese medicine for FD‐based on syndrome differentiation.

Efficacy of modified Banxia Xiexin decoction in the management of Wei-Pi syndrome (postprandial distress syndrome): study protocol for a randomized, waitlist-controlled trial

“…Expert consensus indicates that the Wei-Pi syndrome in CM is equivalent to the PDS [8,9]. A recent study has reported that gastroenterologists exhibit a higher rate of consistency with regard to the diagnosis of the types of FD syndromes and FD-based syndrome differentiation, compared to CMPs [27]. A systematic review of the literature revealed that Chinese herbal medicine can be used as an alternative treatment for the symptoms of FD.…”

Effects and mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicines on functional dyspepsia: A review

“…In clinical practice, many experts regard disharmony between liver and stomach as the main pathogenesis of FD. Song et al showed that disharmony between liver and stomach is the most important syndrome type of FD by using prospective and multicenter research methods ( Song et al, 2020 ). Also, through many years of clinical experience, Professor Wei Wei concluded that stagnation of liver qi is the key to the onset of FD, which damages the stomach, leading to disharmony between liver and stomach ( Luo et al, 2021 ).…”