Objective  To observe the effect of Shouhui Tongbian Capsules combined with Bifidobacterium Triple Viable Bacteria Capsules in treatment of senile functional constipation (FC) differentiated as deficiency of both qi and yin.

  Methods  A total of 183 elderly FC patients were selected as study objects and were divided into control group 1, control group 2 and study group by random number table method, with 61 patients in each group. All patients were given conventional comprehensive treatment. The control group 1 was treated with Bifidobacterium Triple Viable Bacteria Capsules, the control group 2 was treated with Shouhui Tongbian Capsules, and study group was treated with Bifidobacterium Triple Viable Bacteria Capsules combined with Shouhui Tongbian Capsules. Before and 4 weeks after treatment, TCM syndrome scores, Bristol scores and defecation difficulty scores were evaluated in the three groups. Fastening venous blood was collected in the morning to detect the levels of gastrointestinal hormones such as motilin (MTL), gastrin (GAS) and substance P (SP) in the three groups. Anorectal dynamics indexes, such as resting pressure of anal canal, systolic pressure of anal canal and maximum tolerance capacity were detected in three groups. After treatment, the incidence of adverse reactions, the recurrence rate and total effective rate of the three groups were compared.

  Results  The total effective rate of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control groups 1 and 2 (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in TCM syndrome score, defecation difficulty score, Bristol score and serum levels of MTL, GAS and SP before and after treatment among the three groups (P < 0.05). After treatment, TCM syndrome score and defecation difficulty score in the study group were significantly lower than those in control groups 1 and 2, and Bristol score, MTL, GAS and SP levels were significantly higher than those in the control groups 1 and 2(P < 0.05). After treatment, the anal canal resting pressure and anal canal systolic blood pressure in the three groups were increased compared with before treatment, and the maximum tolerance capacity was decreased compared with before treatment (P < 0.05). The anal canal resting pressure and anal canal systolic blood pressure in the study group were significantly higher than those in the control groups 1 and 2, and the maximum tolerance capacity was significantly lower than that in the control groups 1 and 2 (P < 0.05). The recurrence rate of study group was significantly lower than that of the control groups 1 and 2 (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse drug reactions among three groups (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  For elderly FC patients with deficiency of both qi and yin, Shouhui Tongbian Capsules combined with Bifidobacterium Triple Viable Bacteria Capsules has a relatively ideal curative effect, which can significantly improve constipation symptoms, effectively up-regulate gastrointestinal hormone levels, significantly improve anorectal dynamics, greatly reduce the recurrence rate, and has higher safety.