Effect of intradermal needle therapy at combined acupoints on patients’ gastrointestinal function following surgery for gastrointestinal tumors

Table 4 Comparison within and between groups for gastrointestinal symptoms

Measure	Intervention group (n = 32)		Control group (n = 32)		Between-group difference
	Mean difference (95%CI)	P value	Mean difference (95%CI)	P value	Mean difference (95%CI)	P value
Abdominal distension
T1	Reference	N/A	Reference	N/A	-0.2 (-0.5, 0.1)	0.26
T2	-0.2 (-0.5, -0.2)	0.72	0.5 (0.2, 0.7)	<0.001	-0.8 (-1.1, -0.5)	< 0.001
T3	-0.7 (-1.0, -0.4)	< 0.001	0.2 (-0.3, 0.6)	0.97	-1.0 (-1.3, -0.7)	< 0.001
Nausea
T1	Reference	N/A	Reference	N/A	0.1 (-0.2, 0.5)	0.46
T2	-0.6 (-0.9, -0.6)	< 0.001	-0.1 (-0.4, 0.2)	1.00	-0.5 (-0.8, -0.3)	< 0.001
T3	-1.0 (-1.3, -0.8)	< 0.001	-0.6 (-1.0, -0.2)	0.002	-0.3 (-0.5, -0.2)	< 0.001
Vomiting
T1	Reference	N/A	Reference	N/A	0 (-0.3, 0.3)	0.83
T2	-0.2 (-0.4, 0)	0.02	-0.1 (-0.2, 0.1)	1.00	-0.2 (-0.4, 0.1)	0.19
T3	-0.3 (-0.5, 0)	0.02	-0.3 (-0.5, 0)	0.06	-0.1 (-0.2, 0)	0.14
Fatigue
T1	Reference	N/A	Reference	N/A	-0.3 (-0.7, 0)	0.04
T2	-0.8 (-1.0, -0.5)	< 0.001	-0.2 (-0.4, 0)	0.13	-0.9 (-1.2, -0.6)	< 0.001
T3	-1.1 (-1.4, -0.9)	< 0.001	-0.7 (-0.9, -0.5)	< 0.001	-0.8 (-1.1, -0.5)	< 0.001

N/A: Not applicable.