title: Needling of the extra 1 point decreases BIS values and preoperative anxiety.
abstract: Acupuncture has anxiolytic effects. We investigated the effect of acupuncture on the Bispectral Index (BIS) values and anxiety. Fifty patients were randomly assigned to group A to receive acupuncture for 15 minutes on the extra 1 point (yintang) or to group C, where they received the same treatment on a control point located 2 cm lateral to the end of the right eyebrow. BIS values were recorded before acupuncture; during acupuncture every 30 seconds for 15 minutes and every 30 seconds for 90 seconds when the acupuncture treatment was accomplished. Anxiety level was assessed before and after acupuncture by a verbal score scale (VSS) (0 = no anxiety, 10 = worst anxiety). BIS values were significantly decreased during acupuncture when applied on the extra 1 point (p = 0.0001) but not on the control point. Acupuncture application significantly decreased the VSS values within the A group (p = 0.027) and in the C group (p = 0.0001), when compared to the baseline (pre-acupuncture) VSS values. However, no differences were found between the two groups regarding BIS or VSS values. In conclusion, needling the extra 1 point preoperatively significantly decreases the BIS values and the VSS for anxiety but needling of a control point decrease only VSS values.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, St Savas Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paraskeva
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melemeni
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petropoulos
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Siafaka
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fassoulaki
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009339:Needles; D011300:Preoperative Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome