scholarly journals Acupuncture-Point Stimulation for Postoperative Pain Control: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian-Liang Liu ◽  
Jing-Yu Tan ◽  
Alex Molassiotis ◽  
Lorna K. P. Suen ◽  
Yan Shi

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Acupuncture-point stimulation (APS) in postoperative pain control compared with sham/placebo acupuncture or standard treatments (usual care or no treatment). Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. Meta-analysis results indicated that APS interventions improved VAS scores significantly and also reduced total morphine consumption. No serious APS-related adverse effects (AEs) were reported. There is Level I evidence for the effectiveness of body points plaster therapy and Level II evidence for body points electroacupuncture (EA), body points acupressure, body points APS for abdominal surgery patients, auricular points seed embedding, manual auricular acupuncture, and auricular EA. We obtained Level III evidence for body points APS in patients who underwent cardiac surgery and cesarean section and for auricular-point stimulation in patients who underwent abdominal surgery. There is insufficient evidence to conclude that APS is an effective postoperative pain therapy in surgical patients, although the evidence does support the conclusion that APS can reduce analgesic requirements without AEs. The best level of evidence was not adequate in most subgroups. Some limitations of this study may have affected the results, possibly leading to an overestimation of APS effects.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiancun Liu ◽  
Tingting Song ◽  
Xuejiao Chen ◽  
Jingjing Zhang ◽  
Conghui Shan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Abdominal surgery is common and associated with severe postoperative pain. Transverse abdominal plane (TAP) block is considered an effective means for pain control in such cases. Quadratus lumborum (QL) block is another option for the management of postoperative pain. The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis and thereby evaluate the efficacy and safety of QL block and TAP block for pain management after abdominal surgery. Methods We comprehensively searched PubMed, Embase, EBSCO, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science and CNKI for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared QL block and TAP block for pain management in patients undergoing abdominal surgery. All of the data were screened and evaluated by two researchers. RevMan5.3 was applied to perform the meta-analysis. Results A total of 8 RCTs involving564 patients were included. The meta-analysis showed statistically significant differences between the two groups with respect to postoperative pain scores at 2 hours (standardized mean difference [Std.MD]=-1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]=-2.63 to -0.89; p<.001), 4 hours (Std.MD=-0.77; 95% CI=-1.36 to -0.18; p=.01),6 hours (Std.MD=-1.24; 95% CI=-2.31 to -0.17; p=.02),12 hours (Std.MD=-0.70; 95% CI=-1.27 to -0.13; p=.02) and 24hours (Std.MD=-0.65; 95% CI=-1.29 to -0.02; p=.04) ; postoperative opioid consumption at 24 h (Std.MD=-1.39; 95% CI=-1.83 to -0.95; p<.001); and duration of postoperative analgesia (Std.MD=2.30; 95% CI=1.85 to 2.75; p<.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) incidence (RR=0.55; 95% CI=0.27 to 1.14; p=.11). Conclusion QL block provides better pain management with less opioid consumption than TAP block after abdominal surgery. In addition, there are no differences between TAP block and QL block with respect to PONV.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiancun Liu ◽  
Tingting Song ◽  
Xuejiao Chen ◽  
Jingjing Zhang ◽  
Conghui Shan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Abdominal surgery is common and associated with severe postoperative pain. Transverse abdominal plane (TAP) block is considered an effective means for pain control in such cases. Quadratus lumborum (QL) block is another option for the management of postoperative pain. The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis and thereby evaluate the efficacy and safety of QL block and TAP block for pain management after abdominal surgery. Methods We comprehensively searched PubMed, Embase, EBSCO, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science and CNKI for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared QL block and TAP block for pain management in patients undergoing abdominal surgery. All of the data were screened and evaluated by two researchers. RevMan5.3 was applied to perform the meta-analysis. Results A total of 8 RCTs involving564 patients were included. The meta-analysis showed statistically significant differences between the two groups with respect to postoperative pain scores at 2 hours (standardized mean difference [Std.MD]=-1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]=-2.63 to -0.89; p<.001), 4 hours (Std.MD=-0.77; 95% CI=-1.36 to -0.18; p=.01),6 hours (Std.MD=-1.24; 95% CI=-2.31 to -0.17; p=.02),12 hours (Std.MD=-0.70; 95% CI=-1.27 to -0.13; p=.02) and 24hours (Std.MD=-0.65; 95% CI=-1.29 to -0.02; p=.04) ; postoperative opioid consumption at 24 h (Std.MD=-1.39; 95% CI=-1.83 to -0.95; p<.001); and duration of postoperative analgesia (Std.MD=2.30; 95% CI=1.85 to 2.75; p<.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) incidence (RR=0.55; 95% CI=0.27 to 1.14; p=.11). Conclusion QL block provides better pain management with less opioid consumption than TAP block after abdominal surgery. In addition, there are no differences between TAP block and QL block with respect to PONV.


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