Electro-Acupuncture Decreases Postoperative Pain and Improves Recovery in Patients Undergoing a Supratentorial Craniotomy

Abstract

We performed this study to examine the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) on postoperative pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and recovery in patients after a supratentorial tumor resection. Eighty-eight patients requiring a supratentorial tumor resection were anesthetized with sevoflurane and randomly allocated to a no treatment group (Group C) or an EA group (Group A). After anesthesia induction, the patients in Group A received EA at LI4 and SJ5, at BL63 and LR3 and at ST36 and GB40 on the same side as the craniotomy. The stimulation was continued until the end of the operation. Patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) was used for the postoperative analgesia. The postoperative pain scores, PONV, the degree of dizziness and appetite were recorded. In the first 6 hours after the operation, the mean total bolus, the effective times of PCIA bolus administrations and the VAS scores were much lower in the EA group (p < 0.05). In the EA group, the incidence of PONV and degree of dizziness and feeling of fullness in the head within the first 24 hours after the operation was much lower than in the control group (p < 0.05). In the EA group, more patients had a better appetite than did the patients in group C (51.2% vs. 27.5%) (p < 0.05). The use of EA in neurosurgery patients improves the quality of postoperative analgesia, promotes appetite recovery and decreases some uncomfortable sensations, such as dizziness and feeling of fullness in the head.

Acupuncture in the Postoperative Setting for Breast Cancer Patients: A Feasibility Study

“…In regards to CAM and breast cancer, data from Ontario found that 67% of women diagnosed with breast cancer had used, or continue to use, some form of CAM. Almost half (46%) discussed CAM with their physicians, and more than half (53%) reported using CAM to increase their QOL (Boon et al, 2000). In the United States, the prevalence of CAM use in breast cancer patients is on the rise (Lengacher et al, 2002).…”

Postoperative Pain Control Following Craniotomy: A Systematic Review of Recent Clinical Literature

“…Application of acupuncture and its related methods to postcraniotomy pain management constitutes an intriguing aspect of nonpharmacological analgesic therapy. Existing evidence indicates that multipoint TEAS can shorten the anesthesia recovery time, improve the quality of recovery, and decrease the incidence of anesthesia‐related side effects for patients undergoing surgery . From the 2 RCTs included in our systematic review applying multipoint TEAS before induction to anesthesia for supratentorial craniotomy surgery as an adjunct to postoperative use of opioids, a notable reduction of pain scores occurred .…”

“…Methodological quality assessment demonstrated an acceptable risk of bias ( Table 2). Postoperative pain constituted the primary outcome in 15 studies, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] while in the remaining studies the main point of interest was intraoperative performance, 28,29 postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), 30 or cost analysis of the tested analgesics. 31 On the basis of analgesic regimen used for postcraniotomy pain management, the selected articles were divided into 3 subcategories: systemic pharmacological intervention, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]28,30,31 scalp infiltration/block, [24][25][26] and nonpharmacological intervention mainly involving acupuncture, 27,29 enrolling a total of 1,805 patients of both sexes.…”

“…The visual analog scale (VAS) was the most common tool for postcraniotomy pain assessment, 13,15,16,[18][19][20]26,27,31 followed by the verbal rating scale (VRS) 21,28,30 and numeric rating scale (NRS). 14,17,[22][23][24][25]29 Most of the studies provided a 24hour postcraniotomy pain follow-up, [13][14][15][16]18,21,22,24,26,30 2 reported a 48-hour follow-up, 19,29 3 extended the study period to 3 17,25,27 or 5 days 20 postoperatively, while 2 studies had a very short-term follow-up limited to the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) period. 23,28 In one study, the duration of postcraniotomy assessment was not reported.…”

Cardioprotection of Electroacupuncture for Enhanced Recovery after Surgery on Patients Undergoing Heart Valve Replacement with Cardiopulmonary Bypass: A Randomized Control Clinical Trial

“…Meanwhile, evidence shows that EA not only plays a cardioprotection but also significantly promotes recovery of neurological function and thus improves their quality of life [6, 7, 12, 16, 26, 30–32]. Gao and others observed that the old patients received EA at Baihui (DU20), Hegu (LI4), Neiguan (PC6), and Zusanli (ST36) 30 min before anesthesia induction to the end of operation assistant general anesthesia with noncardiac surgery on postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), finding that EA reduced the occurrence of POCD (23.3% versus 46.7%) in aged patients and increased the scores of MMSE on the 2nd and the 4th day after surgery [14].…”