Single-blinded, randomised preliminary study evaluating the effects of 2 Hz electroacupuncture for postoperative pain in patients with total knee arthroplasty

Chung-Yuh Tzeng

Shih-Liang Chang

Chih-Cheng Wu

Chu-Ling Chang

Wen-Gii Chen

Kwok-Man Tong

Kui-Chou Huang

Ching-Liang Hsieh

Acupuncture in Medicine

2015

33(4)

284-288

RCT

ACUPUNCTURE points

CORRELATION (Statistics)

Electroacupuncture

POSTOPERATIVE pain

RESEARCH -- Finance

SAMPLING (Statistics)

TOTAL knee replacement

RANDOMIZED controlled trials

VISUAL analog scale

TREATMENT effectiveness

DATA analysis -- Software

DESCRIPTIVE statistics

MANN Whitney U Test

KRUSKAL-Wallis Test

Objective To explore the point-specific clinical effect of 2 Hz electroacupuncture (EA) in treating postoperative pain in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), Methods In a randomised, partially single-blinded preliminary study, 47patients with TKA were randomly divided into three groups: control group (CG, n=17) using only patient-controlled analgesia (PCA); EA group (EAG, n=16) with 2 Hz EA applied at ST36 ( Zusanli ) and GB34 ( Yanglingquan ) contralateral to the operated leg for 30 min on the first two postoperative days, also receiving PCA; and non-point group (NPG, n=14), with EA identical to the EAG except given 1 cm lateral to both ST36 and GB34. The Mann - Whitney test was used to show the difference between two groups and the Kruskal - Wallis test to show the difference between the three groups. Results The time until patients first required PCA in the CG was 34.1±22.0 min, which was significantly shorter than the 92.0±82.7 min in the EAG (p<0.001) and 90.7±94.8 min in the NPG (p<0.001); there was no difference between the EAG and NPG groups (p>0.05). The total dosage of PCA solution given was 4.6±0.9 mL/kg body weight in the CG, 4.2±1.0 mL/kg in the EAG and 4.5±1.0 mL/kg in the NPG; there were no significant differences (p>0.05) among the three groups. Conclusions In this small preliminary study, EA retarded the first demand for PCA in comparison with no EA. No effect was seen on the total dosage of PCA required and no point-specific effect was seen.

Accession Number: 109111928; Source Information: Aug2015, Vol. 33 Issue 4, p284; Subject Term: ACUPUNCTURE points; Subject Term: CORRELATION (Statistics); Subject Term: ELECTROACUPUNCTURE; Subject Term: POSTOPERATIVE pain; Subject Term: RESEARCH -- Finance; Subject Term: SAMPLING (Statistics); Subject Term: TOTAL knee replacement; Subject Term: RANDOMIZED controlled trials; Subject Term: VISUAL analog scale; Subject Term: TREATMENT effectiveness; Subject Term: DATA analysis -- Software; Subject Term: DESCRIPTIVE statistics; Subject Term: MANN Whitney U Test; Subject Term: KRUSKAL-Wallis Test; Subject Term: ; Number of Pages: 5p; ; Illustrations: 1 Diagram, 2 Charts; ; Document Type: Article;

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