Skip Navigation


eCAM Advance Access originally published online on May 11, 2005
eCAM 2005 2(2):185-189; doi:10.1093/ecam/neh097
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
2/2/185    most recent
neh097v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Usichenko, T. I.
Right arrow Articles by Feyerherd, F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Usichenko, T. I.
Right arrow Articles by Feyerherd, F.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Author (2005). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions{at}oupjournals.org

Auricular Acupuncture for Pain Relief after Ambulatory Knee Arthroscopy—A Pilot Study

Taras I. Usichenko1,*, Maria Hermsen1, Torsten Witstruck2, Andre Hofer2, Dragan Pavlovic1, Christian Lehmann1 and Frank Feyerherd1

1Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Germany, and 2Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Germany

Auricular acupuncture (AA) is effective in treating various pain conditions, but there have been no analyses of AA for the treatment of pain after ambulatory knee surgery. We assessed the range of analgesic requirements under AA after ambulatory knee arthroscopy. Twenty patients randomly received a true AA procedure (Lung, Shenmen and Knee points) or sham procedure (three non-acupuncture points on the auricular helix) before ambulatory knee arthroscopy. Permanent press AA needles were retained in situ for one day after surgery. Post-operative pain was treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ibuprofen, and weak oral opioid tramadol was used for rescue analgesic medication. The quantity of post-operative analgesics and pain intensity were used to assess the effect of AA. The incidence of analgesia-related side effects, time to discharge from the anesthesia recovery room, heart rate and blood pressure were also recorded. Ibuprofen consumption after surgery in the AA group was lower than in the control group: median 500 versus 800 mg, P = 0.043. Pain intensity on a 100 mm visual analogue scale for pain measurement and other parameters were similar in both groups. Thus AA might be useful in reducing the post-operative analgesic requirement after ambulatory knee arthroscopy.

Keywords: ambulatory surgery – auricular acupuncture – post-operative pain

*For reprints and all correspondence: Taras I. Usichenko, M.D., Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine Department, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, Friedrich Loeffler Strasse 23b, 17487 Greifswald, Germany. Tel: +49 3834865803; E-mail: taras{at}uni-greifswald.de


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Evid Based Complement Alternat MedHome page
N. Yamaguchi, T. Takahashi, M. Sakuma, T. Sugita, K. Uchikawa, S. Sakaihara, T. Kanda, M. Arai, and K. Kawakita
Acupuncture Regulates Leukocyte Subpopulations in Human Peripheral Blood
Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., December 1, 2007; 4(4): 447 - 453.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Evid Based Complement Alternat MedHome page
L. Gori and F. Firenzuoli
Ear Acupuncture in European Traditional Medicine
Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., September 1, 2007; 4(suppl_1): 13 - 16.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Evid Based Complement Alternat MedHome page
H.-X. Liu, J.-B. Tian, F. Luo, Y.-H. Jiang, Z.-G. Deng, L. Xiong, C. Liu, J.-S. Wang, and J.-S. Han
Repeated 100 Hz TENS for the Treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Hyperalgesia and Suppression of Spinal Release of Substance P in Monoarthritic Rats
Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., March 1, 2007; 4(1): 65 - 75.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Anesth. Analg.Home page
A. Michalek-Sauberer, H. Heinzl, S. M. Sator-Katzenschlager, G. Monov, E. Knolle, and H. G. Kress
Perioperative Auricular Electroacupuncture Has No Effect on Pain and Analgesic Consumption After Third Molar Tooth Extraction
Anesth. Analg., March 1, 2007; 104(3): 542 - 547.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 CMAJHome page
T. I. Usichenko, S. Kuchling, T. Witstruck, D. Pavlovic, M. Zach, A. Hofer, H. Merk, C. Lehmann, and M. Wendt
Auricular acupuncture for pain relief after ambulatory knee surgery: a randomized trial
Can. Med. Assoc. J., January 16, 2007; 176(2): 179 - 183.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.