TOPLINE:

A 2-week course of auricular acupressure, a traditional therapy targeted at stimulating the central nervous system, in adults with functional dyspepsia and insomnia was associated with improved sleep and dyspepsia symptoms and was well tolerated with sustained benefits maintained over 8 weeks.

METHODOLOGY:

• Insomnia affects 30%-50% of patients with functional dyspepsia. Long-term data on existing drugs and other options remain limited, and rigorous randomized evidence for auricular acupressure is lacking.
• This prospective randomized trial (May 2024-January 2025) was conducted at a Chinese hospital to evaluate the efficacy and safety of auricular acupressure for insomnia in patients with functional dyspepsia (based on Rome IV criteria) with a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score > 7.
• Patients were randomly assigned to either a group that received auricular acupressure in the concha of ears using Vaccaria seeds, with 30-second presses three times a day for 2 weeks and weekly intensive sessions, or a sham group that received acupressure at the earlobe.
• The primary outcome was the response rate at week 2, defined as the proportion of patients with a 50% or greater reduction in PSQI score, with a reduction of three points considered as a minimal clinically important difference.
• Secondary outcomes included several objective measures of sleep using wrist-worn actigraphs, symptoms of dyspepsia, and quality of life. Scores for anxiety and depression were calculated using relevant self-rating scales.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among 82 eligible patients, 41 were assigned to the auricular acupressure group (mean age, 39.1 years; 63.4% women) and 41 to the sham group (mean age, 39.4 years; 68.3% women).
• At week 2, the response rate was higher in the auricular acupressure group than in the sham group (53.7% vs 29.3%; P < .001). The PSQI score was lower in the acupressure group (difference, -4.2 points; P < .001).
• At week 8, the auricular acupressure group maintained a higher response rate (48.8% vs 22.0%; P < .001) and had a lower PSQI score (difference, -3.8 points; P < .001) than the sham group. Certain measures of sleep quality, symptoms of dyspepsia, and quality of life favored auricular acupressure.
• The auricular acupressure group reported lower scores for anxiety and depression at week 8 (P = .025 for both). Adverse events were mild and comparable between groups.

IN PRACTICE:

“These results suggest that [auricular acupressure] may be a safe and effective [treatment] for patients experiencing [functional dyspepsia] with insomnia,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Meng-Yuan Shen, MD, and Ze-Jiong Li, MS, both from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University in Hangzhou, China. It was published online in December 2025 in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

LIMITATIONS:

Researchers did not use prokinetics or antidepressants; thus, any synergy with auricular acupressure remained unknown. Small subgroup sizes limited generalizability. All participants were Chinese, which may have introduced cultural or placebo bias and may have underestimated efficacy.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine major project. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.