Abstract
Introduction:
The risks from opioid use are well known in and mandate nonpharmacological modalities for the management of postoperative pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of battlefield acupuncture (BFA) as an adjunct therapy for postoperative pain in U.S. veteran patients undergoing major surgery under general anesthesia.
Methods:
Patients undergoing major surgery performed under general anesthesia from June 2017 to June 2018 were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either BFA or sham acupuncture. Outcomes such as pain intensity measured by visual analog scale score, opioid consumption, and the incidence of analgesia-related adverse effects were compared between the study groups.
Results:
A total of 72 subjects were included in this study (36 subjects in each study group). The median 24-h opioid postoperative consumption measured in morphine milligram equivalent (MME) was lower in the BFA group compared to the sham acupuncture group (18.3 [±12.2] MME vs. 38.6 [±15.9] MME, p < 0.001). Pain intensity reported by patients at 6, 12, 18, and 24 h postoperatively was lower in the BFA group compared to the sham acupuncture group. The incidence of postsurgical nausea and vomiting was lower in patients receiving BFA compared to patients receiving sham acupuncture. There were no intergroup differences in terms of postoperative anxiety or hospital length of stay.
Conclusion:
The results from this study reveal the potential clinical benefits of using BFA for reducing pain intensity and opioid requirements in surgical patients.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
