Combination of Chinese and Western medicine for the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis

  Diabetic gastroparesis is one of the common complications in diabetic patients. Clinically, it is seen as anorexia, nausea, early satiety, vomiting and abdominal distension, which seriously affects patients’ quality of life, leads to unpredictable blood glucose fluctuations and accelerates the deterioration of diabetes. Its occurrence is related to autonomic nerves and lesions, gastrointestinal motility, abnormal gastrointestinal hormones, and Helicobacter pylori infection. It is a clinical syndrome characterized by hypogastric motility secondary to diabetes mellitus and is characterized by delayed gastric emptying in the absence of mechanical gastric obstruction. Recent studies have shown that up to 75% of diabetic patients present with gastrointestinal symptoms, so it is important to treat them effectively.  The diagnosis of diabetic gastroparesis is based on: 1. history of diabetes; 2. clinical symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension and anorexia; 3. endoscopy and barium meal examination to exclude mechanical obstruction; 4. isotope labeling test meal, ultrasound or gastric electrogram showing abnormal gastric motor function.  After admission, the patient was given Novolin 30R to control blood glucose, Coxua to control blood pressure and reduce proteinuria, Lipitor to regulate lipids, and Mosapride and Erythromycin to improve gastric motility. The treatment of Chinese medicine is to benefit Qi and nourish Yin, invigorate blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and strengthen the spleen and resolve dampness.   Patients with diabetic gastroparesis have irregular fluctuations of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia because gastric dysmotility affects gastric emptying, thus affecting intestinal absorption of sugar. Therefore, treatment can start with intensive treatment with insulin pump, 24-hour subcutaneous continuous insulin injection provides basal insulin, while adjusting the high dose before meals according to dietary structure, and after stable blood glucose control, patients change to treatment with Novolin 30R, and Adjust the injection time to 10-15 minutes before meals to try to match the insulin action time with the postprandial blood glucose peak.  At present, the means of western medical treatment for diabetic gastroparesis are mainly metabolic control, dietary adjustment, the use of drugs to improve gastric motility or promote gastric emptying and gastric electrical pacing therapy and surgery. To improve the patient’s symptoms of gastric fullness, nausea and dry vomiting, we used erythromycin succinate, which uses erythromycin to bind to the gastric motility receptor to stimulate gastric motility and promote significantly faster gastric emptying. In addition, a combination of pro-gastric motility drugs was also used for treatment.  Dietary recommendations include eating small, frequent meals; avoiding large, high-fat diets; avoiding nighttime snacking; avoiding CATS (i.e., caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and stress); avoiding chewing gum (because it increases air swallowing); not eating foods that lower lower lower esophageal sphincter pressure (e.g., mint Avoid eating while walking; do not lie down immediately after meals; eat all food and drinks in a sitting position; stand for 1 hour after meals; lose weight if you are overweight; sleep with the head of the bed raised 5-8 cm and place a pillow between the mattress pad and the spring mattress to stop food reflux; and avoid wearing clothes that wrap tightly around the abdomen. Patients with gastroparesis are prone to the formation of gastric stones (a type of indigestible food stone), which reduces the ability to empty indigestible food fibers, so a low-fiber diet is recommended.  According to Chinese medicine, this disease belongs to the category of “fullness” and “slow stomach” in Chinese medicine, and its location is in the stomach, which is closely related to the spleen. The spleen and stomach live together in the middle jiao and are related to each other through the meridians. The stomach is the main receiver, the spleen is the main transporter, and together they complete the digestion and absorption of food. If the spleen Qi rises, the essence of water and grain can be transported; if the stomach Qi descends, the water and grain and its dregs can go down. The “clinical guide to medical cases” cloud: “the spleen should rise is healthy, the stomach should descend is and.” The stomach is dry earth, the spleen is wet earth, dry and wet together, yin and yang together, in order to complete the process of food transmission and transformation. As Ye Tianshi said, “Taiyin wet earth begins to be transported by Yang, while Yangming dry earth begins to be settled by Yin.” The spleen and stomach are physiologically interconnected and pathologically interact with each other. Therefore, the main pathogenesis of this disease is the loss of Qi due to the loss of Yin over a long period of time, resulting in weakness of the middle qi and deregulation of the elevation of the spleen and stomach. In treatment, attention should be paid to supporting the righteousness and eliminating the evil, harmonizing the stomach and lowering the rebellion. The whole formula takes care of both the symptoms and the root, and supports the positive without leaving the evil behind.  After the treatment, the patient’s nausea and vomiting disappeared, and the feeling of fullness and distension also improved significantly.  The occurrence of diabetic gastroparesis is related to poor long-term glycemic control in diabetes, so strict glycemic control is necessary to avoid the development of this chronic complication. Once gastroparesis occurs, it can seriously affect the patient’s quality of life and is extremely detrimental to the patient’s blood glucose control, so it needs to be taken seriously and diagnosed and treated early. The combination of Chinese and Western medicine is effective and has few side effects, so it is worth a try.