[Application of acupuncture analgesia in colonoscopy].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture analgesia in reducing patient's discomfort during colonoscopy.


METHODS
Eighty outpatients scheduled to undergo colonoscopy were randomly divided into an electroacupuncture (EA) group and a control group, 40 cases in each group. The patients in the EA group received electroacupuncture analgesia at the right Zusanli (ST 36) and Shangjuxu (ST 37), and left Yinlingquan (SP 9) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6), and bilateral Hegu (LI 4) from 30 minutes before colonoscopy to the end of colonoscopy. And the control group did not receive any treatment. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) in the both groups were continuously monitored during colonoscopy; the pain degrees during colonoscope inserting and passing the sigmoid, splenic flexure and hepatic flexure were observed. The time to reach cecum, adverse reaction and patient's satisfactoriness were recorded.


RESULTS
Colonoscopy was well tolerated in all the 80 patients. Pain degrees during colonoscope inserting and passing the sigmoid and splenic flexure in the EA group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.01); the time to reach cecum in the EA group (9.58 +/- 3.386) min was significantly shorter than that in the control group (12.96 +/- 6.4) min (P < 0.05); patient's satisfactoriness in the EA group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in HR and BP values between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Acupuncture analgesia can effectively alleviate the discomfort of patients during colonoscopic examination, shorten the duration of colonoscopy, with a higher satisfactoriness of the patient.
Ni
Yu-Fei
YF
Department of Anesthesology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Zhejiang 325027, China.
Lian
Qing-Quan
QQ
Jiang
Pei-Wei
PW
Xu
Yong-Qiang
YQ
D015667:Acupuncture Analgesia / Q000379:methods*; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000328:Adult; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged