• Reza Alizadeh, Sara Esmaeili, Saeed Shoar, Shahram Bagheri-Hariri, and Nasrin Shoar.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
• J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2014 Apr 1;7(2):71-5.

AbstractDespite recent advances in anesthesiology and postoperative care, postoperative nausea and vomiting are common complaints. Although acupuncture techniques have received attention in anesthesiology, the ideal technique and selection of the most appropriate acupuncture points are still under debate. This study compared the efficacy of two simultaneous acupuncture points with that of a single point in the prevention and treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting following general anesthesia through a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial involving 227 surgical patients undergoing general anesthesia who were randomly assigned into two groups. The first group received acupuncture by stimulation only on the PC6 point (single group), and the second group underwent concomitant stimulation of the PC6 and the L14 acupuncture points (combined group) during surgery under general anesthesia. The prevalences of postoperative nausea and vomiting were compared between the two groups. No significant differences were observed between the two groups (p>0.05). Of 115 patients in the combined group, 80 (69.6%) complained about nausea and vomiting compared with 96 (85.7%) in the single group, a significantly lower proportion (p<0.05). Our findings favor a combination of PC6 and LI4 stimulation for the treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting.Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

19 keywords...

hide…