American researchers have shown electroacupuncture significantly reduces pain after kidney stone removal by percutaneous nephrolithotomy. They randomised 51 patients to receive either electroacupuncture, sham electroacupuncture or no acupuncture. Flank and abdomen pain was lower at all time points in the electroacupuncture group compared with the other two groups. Immediate post-operative opioid use was also lower in the electroacupuncture group, with two patients not requiring any opioids.
The researchers say that electroacupuncture significantly reduces pain and opioid usage without any adverse effects, and this promising treatment warrants further investigation.
(A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Study Assessing Electroacupuncture for the Management of Postoperative Pain after Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy. Journal of Endourology, March 2019.)
Author: Robin Costello
I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training.
I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.
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