Postoperative pain and associated mobility limitations are common following cesarean section, with postoperative opioids almost universally prescribed. Is there a safer, more effective way to reduce pain and restore movement? Preoperative acupuncture, suggests research.
A placebo-controlled clinical trial divided 180 expectant mothers scheduled for elective cesarean delivery into three equal comparison groups: acupuncture and placebo acupuncture (both randomized) or standard postoperative analgesia (nonrandomized). Patients in the acupuncture group received auricular (four points) and body (six points) acupuncture. Needles were placed before spinal anesthesia and "remained in situ for three days after cesarean delivery."
Postoperative analgesics (1 g oral paracetamol, four times a day, supplemented by 50 mg diclofenac potassium three times a day as necessary) were available to all patients. If neither achieved relief, 7.5 mg piritramide (an opioid) could be prescribed up to six times daily.
The primary outcome measure assessed was pain intensity upon movement (postoperatively on day one); secondary outcome measures of note included time to mobilization and removal of catheter following cesarean; total use of pain medication and side effects from use; and quality-of-life improvements following surgery (mood, sleep, enjoyment of life, etc., as impacted by pain). Findings suggest the following on day one postoperatively:
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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