Table 1.
Summary of Randomized Controlled Trials of Acupuncture for Acute Postoperative Pain after Back Surgery
| Authorref (year) Country | Reason for Surgery | Design | Sample Size (A:B:C) | Baseline Characteristics Difference of Treatment and Control Groups | AT Time before/after Surgery | Intervention | Main Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment | Control | |||||||
| Treatment | Control | |||||||
| AT vs. Sham AT | ||||||||
| Yeh38 (2011) Taiwan | Lumbar disk herniation, lumbar spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis | Patient blind, parallel 3 arms | 90 (30/30/30) | No difference (gender, age, body weight, height, other chronic diseases, admitted diagnosis, number of lumber surgeries, worst preoperative pain, average preoperative pain, operation duration, amount of blood loss) | 3 h after surgery 4 h after surgery | (A) True AES | (B) Sham AES (2 cm away from actual acupoints) (C) No treatment | (1) VAS (pain) 24 h after surgery (2) Opiate demands Postoperative dose during first 24 h |
| Yeh34 (2010a) Taiwan | Lumbar disk herniation, Lumbar spinal stenosis, lumbar vertebra dislocation | Patient blind, parallel 3 arms | 94 (33/30/31) | No difference (gender, age, employment, height, body weight, other chronic diseases, admitted diagnosis, lumber of lumber surgeries, worst preoperative pain, average preoperative pain, preoperative systolic blood pressure, preoperative diastolic blood pressure, type of operation, operation duration, amount of blood loss) | 1 h before surgery 1 h after surgery 2 h after surgery | (A) True AES | (B) Sham AES (2 cm away from actual acupoints) (C) No treatment | (1) VAS(pain) Before surgery 1 h after surgery 2 h after surgery 24 h after surgery (2) Opiate dose Postoperative dose during first 24 h |
| Wang36 (2000) Germany | Lumbar disk herniation | Patient blind, Parallel 2 arms | 132 (66/66) | No mentioned difference between the two groups | AT was conducted before and after corrective surgery for a total of 3-6 days | (A) Classic AT | (B) Placebo AT (2 cm away from actual acupoints) | (1) VAS (pain) Before AT Immediately after AT 0.5 h after AT 1 h after AT 2 h after AT 6 h after AT |
| AT vs. conventional therapy | ||||||||
| Li35 (2008) China | Lumbar disk herniation | Parallel 2 arms | 90 (45/45) | No difference (Gender, age, course of disease(narrative only)) | 6 h after surgery 1–3 days after surgery (twice a day) 4–7 days after surgery (once a day) | (A) Abdominal AT | (B) Drugs (anti-inflammatory and analgesic) | (1) VAS (pain) Before surgery 1 week after surgery 1 month after surgery 3 months after surgery |
| AT plus conventional therapy vs. conventional therapy | ||||||||
| Yeh37 (2010b) Taiwan | Lumbar spine (not reported details) | Parallel 2 arms | 74 (36/38) | No difference (gender, age, smoking, history of postoperative vomiting, history of spinal surgery, hypertension, diabetes, ASA class, operation duration, amount of blood loss, number of postoperative drains) | 1–3 days after surgery (four times) | (A) Auricular AT plus regular care | (B) Regular care alone | (1) VAS (pain) 2 h after surgery 24 h after surgery 48 h after surgery 72 h after surgery (2) Morphine demands Postoperative dose during first 24 h During 24–48 h after surgery During 48–72 h after surgery |
AES, acupoint electrical stimulation (non-penetration); AT, acupuncture; EA, electro-acupuncture; VAS, visual analogue scale; ASA, the American Society of Anaesthesiologists.