Background:
Among patients diagnosed with dyspepsia consulting at the ambulatory care unit of PGH, majority don't have money to buy a PPI and H2 block or any antacid to relieve acute abdominal pain. A non- invasive treatment alternative, pranic healing, will be used as an adjunct to relieve abdominal pain.

Objective:
To determine the effectiveness of pranic healing as an adjunct in the management of acute abdominal pain of patients with functional dyspepsia at the ambulatory care unit.

Method:
This was an open-label randomized controlled trial, conducted at the adult ambulatory care unit (AACU/AMBU) of the Philippine General Hospita (PGH), comparing two groups of patients aged 18 and above diagnosed with functional dyspepsia. Using sequences determined by the table of random numbers, 65 patients were randomized to the two interventions. A total of 33 patients were randomized to the control group and 32 patient were randomized to the treatment group. Patients in the control group were given intramuscular (IM) injection of 1 ampule of H2 blocker (ranitidine 25 mg/ml/ampule). The treatment group received a combination of H2 blocker (ranitidine 25 mg/ml/ampule given IM) and pranic healing. Visual analogue scale (VAS) score was used to assess the degree of severity pain. Monitoring was done every 5 minutes for a duration of 60 minutes, 10 minutes after administration of intervention for each treatment arm. The outcomes measured in this study were: the onset of alleviation of pain as measured in minutes and the degree of pain relief before and after intervention as measured by the VAS score of each group and the difference between two groups.

Results:
There was a decrease in the pain score after 30 minutes, with maximum effect achieved at 55 minutes in the control group, with a significant relief from the initial VAS score mean of 7.36 to 5 after the 60 minute observation, p value<0.0001. In the treatment group, a significant decrease in the VAS score after 10 minutes with maximum effect at 60 minutes with the initial VAS of 7.75 to 1.38 at the end of the observation period, p value < 0.0001. The VAS score decrease about 2.72 from baseline VAS with the treatment group compared to the control group with only 0.47 decrease from baseline VAS p value <0.0001. The mean difference between the effects of the treatment groups before and after the intervention were also significant (p value <0.001) with mean difference measured, -3.61 (95% CI: -4.77 - -2.46).

Conclusion: Pranic healing as an adjunct in the management of acute abdominal pain of patients with functional dyspepsia is proven effective no only in lowering the severity of abdominal pain but also in promoting a faster onset of pain relief.

The Filipino Family Physician, 2008 46 (2) pages 100-107