Am J Chinese Med
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Clinical observations on postoperative vomiting treated by auricular acupuncture.
We studied the effect of auricular acupuncture on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). One hundred female patients undergoing transabdominal hysterectomy were entered into the study. The patients were divided into two groups (auricular acupuncture treatment group and non-treatment group) in order to test the effectiveness of auricular acupuncture. ⋯ There was a significant difference between the control and auricular acupuncture treatment groups in the incidence of vomiting 12 hours after surgery (68% and 30%, respectively, p < 0.01). No noteworthy side effects from treatment were observed. Auricular acupuncture is effective in reducing vomiting following transabdominal hysterectomy in female patients.
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Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) provides a convenient and standardized technique for pain treatment. The cold-pressor test is a simple and reliable model in humans for the induction of tonic pain. In this controlled study, the effects of TEAS on cold pressor-induced pain were evaluated in 22 healthy human subjects. ⋯ We observed an analgesic effect at both 4 Hz and 32 Hz of stimulation, and pain score rating reductions were statistically significant compared to control (p < 0.01). Our data support the efficacy of TEAS analgesia. However, there was no significant difference between pain scores at 4 Hz and 32 Hz stimulation.
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Clinical Trial
The pain-relieving effects induced by electroacupuncture with different intensities at homotopic and heterotopic acupoints in humans.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the distribution of the analgesic area when different intensities of stimulation were applied to homotopic and heterotopic acupoints. The experiments were performed on volunteers; the left sural nerve was stimulated by a volley of eight rectangular pulses delivered at a frequency of 400 Hz. Electromyographic reflex responses (EMGs) were recorded from the ipsi-lateral biceps femoris muscle. ⋯ Local analgesic effects of acupoint stimulation involve segmental inhibition, whereas systemic analgesic effects of acupoint stimulation are involved in contra-lateral effects. The latter may recruit the diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) system. The specific function of an acupoint is determined by the anatomical relationship between the disease focus and the segmental location of the acupoint.
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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of extracts of Coptidis rhizoma, Phellodendri cortex and Gardeniae fructus, which are medicinal herbs in Orengedoku-to (Huanglin-Jie-Du-Tang in Chinese), and crocetin (a major component of Gardeniae fructus) on experimental elevation of aqueous flare in pigmented rabbits. To produce aqueous flare elevation, 0.5 microg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was injected into the ear vein, or prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) 25 microg/ml, was applied to the cornea by means of a glass cylinder. Animals were pretreated by oral administration of 150 g/day of food containing 0.15% (w/w) extract powder of Coptidis rhizoma, 0.10% (w/w) extract powder of Phellodendri cortex or 0.15% (w/w) extract powder of Gardeniae fructus for 4 days, or by intravenous injection of crocetin, 0.3, 3, 30 or 300 microg/kg, 30 minutes before aqueous flare elevation. ⋯ Pretreatment by oral administration of 0.15% extract of Gardeniae fructus suppressed LPS-induced aqueous flare elevation (AUC: 1411 arbitrary units). Pretreatment by intravenous injection of 3, 30 or 300 microg/kg of crocetin-inhibited LPS-induced aqueous flare elevation in a dose-dependent manner. Pretreatment with 3 or 30 microg/kg of crocetin did not inhibit PGE2-induced aqueous flare elevation, but 300 microg/kg of crocetin inhibited PGE2-induced aqueous flare elevation (AUC: 918 arbitrary units).