Treatment of gastric paralysis after gastric schwannoma by electroacupuncture: A case report and literature review

•Gastric schwannomas originate from the gastrointestinal plexus and are a rare type of schwannomas occurring in the gastrointestinal tract. Such surgery is very likely to damage the corresponding gastric innervation and cause adverse reactions.•Postoperative gastroparesis syndrome is a kind of gastric neuromuscular dysfunction characterized by delayed gastric emptying. At present, the clinical treatment of gastroparesis has certain limitations, and the effect is usually not good.•Electroacupuncture can accelerate the recovery process of patients with gastroparesis after gastric neurinoma surgery, which is shown to increase the tolerance of patients to oral feeding, accelerate the passage of contrast agent through pyloric sinus, and ultimately shorten the length of hospital stay of patients. The patient was well accepted and well tolerated. We identified the potential role of electroacupuncture (EA) as an alternative therapy to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in a rare case of postoperative gastroparesis after gastric schwannoma (GS). A 31-year-old woman presented with impaired gastric emptying after gastrectomy for GS and was diagnosed with postoperative gastroparesis syndrome (PGS). The symptoms were slightly relieved after routine placement of the jejunal tube; however, symptoms such as dietary intolerance and impaired gastric emptying persisted. After the consultation, the patient agreed to undergo EA therapy. The patient was able to tolerate oral intake after seven days of EA treatment, and the frequency and amount of food intake increased. The jejunal tube was removed at the outpatient follow-up two weeks after discharge, and the patient resumed a semi-liquid diet and was able to eat small amounts of rice. Reexamination of the upper digestive tract angiography showed that part of the contrast agent passed through the pyloric sinus, which showed improvement. EA stimulation increased tolerance to transoral feeding in patients with postoperative gastroparesis and facilitated the passage of contrast agents through the pyloric sinus. No adverse effects were observed during treatment, and the treatment was well accepted and tolerated by patients. A review article noted the benefits of acupuncture for gastrointestinal disorders but lacked high-quality evidence to support this.1 Therefore, the therapeutic role of EA needs to be further elucidated to provide high-quality evidence-based medical evidence for its clinical use.