All clients received the organizations standard opioid-sparing multimodal analgesic procedure, with the addition of electroacupuncture– a modified form of standard acupuncture that applies a small electric existing to thin needles that are placed at known acupuncture points on the body. With the addition of acupuncture, the bulk of clients had a considerable reduction in postoperative opioid use, compared to historic controls. All clients studied stopped opioid use after 30 days following surgery.
The research study included 41 patients going through primary total knee replacement at the Hospital for Special Surgery. All patients received the institutions basic opioid-sparing multimodal analgesic procedure, with the addition of electroacupuncture– a modified type of conventional acupuncture that applies a little electrical existing to thin needles that are placed at known acupuncture points on the body. The acupuncture was administered throughout surgical treatment by Dr. Cheng, who is board-certified in medical acupuncture, to eight specific points in the ear to offer targeted pain relief in the knee.
With the addition of acupuncture, the majority of patients had a considerable reduction in postoperative opioid usage, compared to historical controls. Sixty-five percent of clients preserved a low-dose opioid regimen of 15 oxycodone pills or less (57.5%) or stayed completely opioid-free (7.5%) from induction of anesthesia to 30 days after surgery. Historically, only 9% of patients outside of the research study preserved an opioid-free or low-dose program post-surgery. All patients studied ceased opioid usage after 30 days following surgery.
” Our research study shows that if an experienced medical acupuncturist is available to perform acupuncture in the operating space, it can assist patients with postoperative discomfort healing,” stated Dr. Cheng. “Most research studies stop working to incorporate nontraditional strategies, such as acupuncture, to assist reduce the dependance on opioid medications for postoperative discomfort control.”
In the context of the opioid epidemic, accomplishing low-dose perioperative opioid usage is crucial to decreasing the threat of long-term opioid use in clients. With acupuncture being frequently utilized beyond the hospital as an effective treatment for discomfort management and treatment for a variety of health problems and signs, its time to consider its benefits inside the medical facility also, Dr. Cheng stated. “Additional research study is required to further define acupunctures results and encourage its usage in all elements of illness treatment.”
Clients who have acupuncture during overall knee replacement surgical treatment report less discomfort and need far less opioids to handle their discomfort, according to a study being provided at the ANESTHESIOLOGY ® 2021 yearly meeting. Results of the research study revealed that 65% of clients who got acupuncture during surgical treatment accomplished a low-dose or opioid-free postoperative experience, compared to 9% of clients outside of the study.
” Total knee replacements are among the most common personnel procedures in the United States and frequently extremely unpleasant, so theres a fantastic need to explore non-opioid pain relief methods for this type of surgery,” said Stephanie Cheng, M.D., DABMA, lead author of the research study and assistant participating in anesthesiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery and assistant professor of clinical anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, both situated in New York City. “Acupuncture is extremely safe and can help reduce discomfort with couple of undesirable negative effects, but it has actually not been well looked into as part of surgical anesthesia.”
