• Number of complete spontaneous bowel movement (CSBM) per week [ Time Frame: Baseline, once a week during the treatment period, then 4 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months after the treatment period. ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  

• The number of subjects that had CSBM over 4 times per week,and self-evaluation on symptoms by patient [ Time Frame: Baseline, and once a week during the pre-treatment and post-treatment period ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  

Functional constipation is a high morbidity disease. The life-long treatment of functional constipation can seriously impact a patient's quality of life. At present, the most frequently used treatment is catharsis, which deals with the symptom. This therapy is effective in the short-term for general functional constipation, whereas the effect is poor in colonic slow transit constipation. There are three main problems with catharsis. First, there are no long-lasting effects once the patient stops taking medication. Second, there are many side effects, including abdominal pain with defecation and diarrhea. Third, long-term use of irritant laxatives will not only make the constipation become refractory and complex; but also, this type of medicine can harm the enteric nervous system, cause melanosis coli, or even carcinoma of colon. Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis and treatment has its own advantages in treating functional constipation, but the therapeutic effect of treating colonic slow transit constipation is still uncertain. Although constipation is relieved to a certain extent, the patient also suffers from abdominal pain during defecation. Chinese herbs, such as Radix et Rhizoma Rhei, or Cassia angustifolia Vahl, are laxatives which also provide short-term effects. Long-term administration of the Chinese herbs will affect the regulation of Meissner's plexus, Auerbach's plexus, and gastrointestinal hormones, as well as make the digestive system depend on laxatives.

Therefore, a therapy that is safe with minimal side effects and good short-term and long-term effects is urgently needed in functional constipation treatment, especially for the type of slow colonic transit functional constipation.

Clinical practice shows that acupuncture meets this need. The acupuncture therapy is safe and effective especially for slow colonic transit functional constipation，and the therapeutic effects are still present several months after the treatment has been completed.