Table 2.

Randomized Trials on Postoperative Analgesic Consumption Reduction and Other Effects Produced by Acupuncture Analgesia.

Authors	Study design	Surgery and anesthesia	Acupuncture points	Method of stimulation	Postoperative analgesic consumption	P	Postoperative pain and other outcomes
Ekblom et al.⁵⁰	Pre and Post-surgery acupuncture “No acupuncture” control, no blinding	Oral surgery Local anesthesia N=110	LI 4, ST 6, ST 7, SJ 5, SI 19,	Manual	Significantly increased in both acupuncture groups	P<0.03	Significantly increased in preoperative acupuncture group
Lao et al.⁷²	Placebo controlled, Double-blind	Oral surgery Local anesthesia N=39	LI 4, ST 6, ST 7, SJ 17	Manual	Significantly decreased in acupuncture group	P=0.05	No significant difference in the pain score between two groups
Christensen et al.⁷¹	No “acupuncture” control Single-blind	Abdominal hysterectomy General anesthesia N=50	GV 4, Bl 32, SP 6, ST 36	Electroacupuncture initiated after induction	No difference in analgesic consumption between acupuncture and control groups	P=0.48	No difference in the pain score between two groups
Lin et al.⁶⁰	“No acupuncture”, “sham” acupuncture control Double-blind	Abdominal hysterectomy General anesthesia N=100	ST 36	Low- and high frequency electro-acupuncture	Significantly lower in both electro-acupuncture and “sham” groups	P<0.05	No significant difference in the pain score between control, “sham”, and both acupuncture groups Significantly longer time for first pain medicine request in both electroacupuncture groups
Kotani et al.⁵⁹	“No acupuncture” control Double-blind	Upper and lower abdominal surgery General and epidural morphine postoperatively N=165	Back shu points	Intradermal needle insertion without stimulation	Significantly lower morphine consumption in acupuncture groups	P<0.01	Significantly lower in acupuncture group Decreased PONV in acupuncture group
Chen et al. ⁷⁷	“Sham” and placebo control Single blind	Abdominal hysterectomy Myomectomy General anesthesia N=100	ST 36, at dermatomal distribution of incisional site	Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)	Reduced in both acupoint and dermatomal group vs “sham” and control groups	P<0.5	Pain treatment satisfaction was better in acupoint group and dermatomal group
Sim et al.⁵⁸	Placebo control Single-blind	Abdominal hysterectomy General anesthesia N=90	ST 36, P 6, along skin incision	Electroacupuncture before induction or after surgery	Reduced in acupuncture group within 6-12 postoperative hours	P<0.015	No difference in VAS score or PONV

VAS = visual analog scale (0 = none, 100 = worse imaginable), PONV = postoperative nausea and vomiting