Medical acupuncture
-
Medical acupuncture · Feb 2020
Battlefield Acupuncture for Chronic Pain Management in Patients on Long-Term Opioid Therapy.
Objectives: Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) is a unique auricular acupuncture procedure utilized by many Veterans Affairs Healthcare Administration facilities. Several previous studies have shown an immediate reduction in pain for up to 2 weeks post BFA. The long-term effects of BFA and its potential to decrease opioid use had yet to be analyzed. ⋯ No significant changes of the average number of opioids over the 9 months analyzed were found. Conclusions: BFA is effective for immediate pain reduction. Further research with a randomized controlled trial in a larger population is needed to assess BFA effects on chronic pain and opioid dependency.