Intervention
The EA treatment and SA control protocols were based on previous clinical trialsPatients in both groups received 24 sessions of treatment, 30 minutes each session, over an 8-week period (3 sessions each week, ideally every other day), and were followed up for 8 weeks thereafter. For the EA group, bilateral acupoints Tianshu (ST25), Fujie (SP14), and Shangjuxu (ST37) (eFigure in During the trial, we discouraged patients from receiving other interventions for OIC. However, the use of bisacodyl suppository (5-10 mg; maximum of 20 mg/d) and/or a 110-mL glycerol enema as rescue medication was permitted if the patient had not had a bowel movement for 72 hours or more during the trial. Details of rescue medicine and other interventions if used were recorded in the stool diary.Before treatment, we told patients that they had a 50% chance of receiving conventional EA vs minimal EA (SA) with possible similar efficacy, and they may or may not feel the stimulation during treatment because of the relatively low stimulation intensity. Patients were treated separately to avoid communication. To assess the success of blinding, within 5 minutes after treatment at week 8, patients were asked to guess whether they had received conventional EA.