Health in Hospitals  Analgesics

Electroacupuncture analgesia in major abdominal surgery

Advocates of acupuncture treatment for anesthesia have long suggested that it may be used as a replacement for conventional anesthesia with a claimed effective rate of 90 per cent (1). Indeed, it has been historically for anesthesia (2). A randomised, controlled study involving 250 cancer patients undergoing abdominal or pelvic surgery aimed to assess the use of electroacupuncture as the sole analgesic within a standard anaesthetic(3). Data collected from 233 of the patients (120 in the electroacupuncture treatment group, 113 in the control group and the remaining 12 patients were withdrawn for various reasons including lost randomised envelopes and cancelled surgery). The two groups were statistically matched as regards weight, sex, age, height and type of surgery.

Whilst there was no difference between the two groups in the anaesthetic dose requirements (related to body weight and duration of surgery), all of the patients in the control group required fentanyl whereas only 7 out of the 120 patients in the treatment group (i.e. 5%) needed it, and then at much lower doses than the control group. Furthermore, patients in the treatment group recovered spontaneous respiration and were extubated more quickly than patients in the control group. 74.1 per cent of patients in the treatment group recovered within 30 minutes following surgery compared to 55 per cent in the control group, and patients in the treatment group were extubated an average of 36 minutes earlier than those in the control group.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) was used for post-operative pain relief in the treatment group, while the control group received non-narcotic analgesics. There was no significant difference in the number of patients complaining of pain, but the requirement for additional pain relief was less in the TENS group.

Finally, the return to normal self-caring was significantly improved in the acupuncture group. The researchers suggest that "practically and economically this is probably the most important beneficial aspect of electro-acupuncture demonstrated by this study".

(1) Groupe recherche en anesthésie par acupuncture (1972) L’anesthesie par acupuncture. Ann Anesth Franc XIII,4;627-34.

(2) Beijing Children Hospital (1975) A clinical analysis of 1,474 operations under acupuncture anesthesia among children. Chinese Medical Journal 1;5:369-74.

(3) Poulain P, Pichard Léndri E, Laplanche A et al. Electroacupuncture analgesia in major abdominal and pelvic surgery: A randomised study. Acupuncture in Medicine May 1997 vol. 15 No 1, 10.

return to top

This page was last updated on 06 July 2000 16:29:46