title: Therapeutic approaches for chronic gastralgia based on differentiation of symptoms and signs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report our clinical experience with the treatment of chronic gastralgia on the basis of the differentiation of symptoms and signs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 160 cases of chronic gastralgia we treated in recent years were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 160 cases, 120 falls in the category characterized by the predominant clinical symptoms such as depression of liver-energy and spleen-asthenia. For the other 40 cases, their clinical symptoms are of deficiency of stomach-yin, and retention of damp-heat in the interior or accumulation of blood stasis constituted the major clinical presentations, but more or less featured by depression of liver-energy and spleen-asthenia. Through analysis by differentiation of the symptoms and signs, we were convinced that the major symptoms of chronic gastralgia and some accompanying minor symptoms were all the representation and extension of the underlying cause, disorder of stomach-energy. The treatment was therefore targeted at dispersing the depression of liver-energy and invigorating the spleen, smoothing and regulating the stomach-energy. The treatment adopts primary prescription and good effects were achieved.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pathogenesis of chronic gastralgia predominantly lies in the depression of liver-energy and spleen-asthenia, together with disordered stomach-energy. The treatment should be implemented to disperse the depression of liver-energy and invigorate the spleen, with attention to smoothing and regulating the stomach-energy throughout the whole treatment course.
authors.affiliation: Department of TCM, Nanfang Hospital, First Military Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Kun-Tang
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Zang
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional