Electroacupuncture for Pain Relief After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Postoperative pain is a common problem after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Electroacupuncture (EA) is proven to be effective in relieving postoperative pain. However, EA has not been studied in patients undergoing ESS. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of EA compared to a sham control in relieving pain after ESS. A total of 62 patients were randomly allocated to receive either EA (n = 31) or sham EA (n = 31) for 5 sessions, 30 minutes per session for 4 days (2 hours before and 2 hours after surgery, and 3 sessions daily for the following 3 days). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups with regard to demographic characteristics. Compared to the sham EA group, the EA group showed a significantly greater reduction in the pain intensity of single daily scoring with a numerical rating scale at the day following surgery (postoperative day 1, POD1) (−1.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], −1.74 to −0.97; P < .001) and POD2 (−1.16; 95% CI, −1.55 to −0.77; P < .001), whereas no significant between-group difference was detected at the day of surgery (POD0), POD3 or POD6. Intraoperative heart rate and mean blood pressure in the EA group showed a more stable trend. A significant improvement was found for an actigraphy-measured average time of night wakings, recovery time from anesthesia, and quality of recovery-15 in the EA group. No severe adverse events occurred during the trial. Our results demonstrate that EA can serve as an effective adjuvant therapeutic tool for pain relief after ESS. PerspectiveThis randomized sham-controlled, patient-and-assessor blinded trial provided evidence for the first time that EA can relieve postoperative pain and other symptom management in patients after ESS. Trial registration numberChinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1900024183, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=40573