Better management of postoperative pain in patients
undergoing thyroid surgery is important for recovery. It was reported that
acupuncture had a synergistic effect in relieving pain in patients after
thyroidectomy according a study published in journal of Surgery.
Appropriate control of postoperative pain following
thyroid surgery is essential for a speedy recovery. Conventional pain relief
medications such as opioids and/or non-opioids normally are effective in
relieving or stopping pain after surgery. However, they induced many unwanted
side effects such as worsening of anesthetics-induced nausea and vomiting,
sedation and slowing of gastric emptying and gastro-intestine motility and many
more. Acupuncture has been reported to be effective in relieving postoperative
pain in many conditions only with minimal side effect.
Dr. M Iacobone and colleagues in Italy performed a
randomised, controlled clinical trial to assess the efficacy of acupuncture in
reducing pain after thyroid surgery. One hundred forty patients with
thyroidectomy were randomly divided into control group (n=79) and acupuncture
group (n=70). Patients in control group were treated with analgesic acetaminophen,
and patients in acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture plus acetaminophen.
Acupuncture was give at acupoints LI4 and PC6, ca. 30 min before surgery and in
the morning of postoperative day 1, for 30 min with or without electro
stimulation. Pain was assessed according to the intraoperative pain measured by
remifentanil consumption during anesthesia and postoperative pain, measured by Numeric
Rating Scale, the McGill Pain Questionnaire, and acetaminophen consumption.
Overall, patients with acupuncture required less
acetaminophen at day 2 and day 3 after operation compared with controls.
Patients with electroacupuncture performed better than manual acupuncture. They
required less remifentanil and acetaminophen than controls at day 2 and 3 after
surgery and showed a trend toward better Numeric Rating Scale and McGill scores
from day 1 to 3 after surgery compared with controls. Patients in acupuncture
also experienced less side-effects than control group.
Authors suggested that acupuncture may be effective in
reducing pain in patients following thyroid surgery.
Reference:
Iacobone M et al., The
effects of acupuncture after thyroid surgery: A randomized, controlled trial. Surgery
2014;156:1605-13. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039606014005406
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