Efficacy and Safety of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation (TEAS) for Postoperative Pain in Laparoscopy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Talha Bin Emran,Yongmei Song,Chun-Chun Yan,Guangxin Xiang,Qin-Yu Zhao,Dan Meng,Yifei Mao,Quan-Mei Song,Mengqi Yang

doi:10.1155/2022/9922879

Abstract

Objectives This meta-analysis aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation (TEAS) for postoperative pain in laparoscopy. The review has been registered on the “INPLASY” website and the registration number is INPLASY202150101. Methods Relevant randomized controlled trials are selected from seven electronic databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chongqing VIP Information, WanFang Data, and Chinese Biomedical Database) from their inception up to November 30, 2020. Twenty-eight studies were included in this meta-analysis, and the statistical analyses and the exploration of heterogeneity sources were conducted by Stata 15.0 software. Besides, the bias assessment of the included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results In total, 28 RCTs covering 2787 participants were included. The meta-analysis suggested that TEAS can effectively relieve pain in the short term after laparoscopy, reduce the postoperative consumption of rescue analgesics, improve the quality of life of patients, and shorten the length of hospitalization. And no serious adverse events are related to TEAS. Therefore, TEAS is relatively safe and efficacy for clinical application. The most used acupoints were Hegu (LI14), Neiguan (PC6), and Zusanli (ST36). Conclusions TEAS can be recommended as a complementary and alternative therapy for the treatment of postoperative pain after laparoscopy. However, the included RCTs had some methodological limitations. Therefore, larger-size, more rigorous, and higher-quality RCTs are needed in the future to further explore the efficacy and safety of TEAS for postoperative pain after laparoscopy.

Highlights

With the promotion of the concept of minimally invasive surgery, the application of laparoscopy has gradually increased because of its advantages of small trauma to surrounding tissues, less intraoperative bleeding, rapid postoperative recovery, and a wide application range
Postoperative pain may produce a negative effect on patients’ physical activity, recovery time, quality of life, medical expenses, etc. erefore, optimizing the management of postoperative acute pain is crucial for accelerating postoperative rehabilitation. ough a variety of analgesic methods, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or COX-2 analgesic drugs, as well as epidural analgesia, patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA), and nerve block, have been widely used in the clinic, they can produce more side effects
Our meta-analysis suggests that transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation (TEAS) can effectively relieve pain in the short term after laparoscopy, reduce the postoperative consumption of rescue analgesics, improve the quality of life of patients, and shorten the length of hospitalization. erefore, TEAS can be recommended as a complementary and alternative therapy for the treatment of postoperative pain after

Summary

Introduction

With the promotion of the concept of minimally invasive surgery, the application of laparoscopy has gradually increased because of its advantages of small trauma to surrounding tissues, less intraoperative bleeding, rapid postoperative recovery, and a wide application range. Postoperative pain may produce a negative effect on patients’ physical activity, recovery time, quality of life, medical expenses, etc. One study [9] found that acupuncture and related techniques can significantly reduce postoperative pain score and opioid consumption and can be used as an effective auxiliary means of postoperative pain management. One study [10] reported that TEAS can significantly relieve postoperative pain and reduce opioid consumption on the first postoperative day. Another study [11] limited the mode of acupuncture to the way needling with penetration of the skin and only investigated the efficacy of such way on postoperative pain after laparoscopy and did not analyze the noninvasive acupoint stimulation mode

Results

Discussion

Conclusion