title: The effect of electroacupuncture and tramadol on experimental tourniquet pain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The hypoalgesic effect of electroacupuncture (EA) was directly compared with the analgesic effect of pharmacological interventions using the submaximum effort tourniquet technique (SETT).
  
  
  METHODS
  125 healthy subjects (mean age 24.44±4.46 years; 62.4% female, 37.6% male) performed SETT at baseline and under one of five experimental conditions (n=25 per group): EA (2 Hz with burst pulses in alternating one-phase-square wave pulses; burst length 180 μs, burst frequency 80 Hz, stimulation time/pulse width 3 s), tramadol (50 mg), ibuprofen (400 mg), placebo pill or non-treatment control. EA was performed at LI4 and LI10 contralaterally with stimulation beginning 20 min before SETT and lasting throughout SETT. The pharmacological interventions were given in a double-blind design 1 h before the SETT assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects showed a hypoalgesic effect of the opiate and of the EA for subjective pain rating (EA p=0.0051; tramadol p=0.0299), and pain tolerance index (time/rating) (EA p=0.043; tramadol p=0.047) analysed using analysis of covariance. More subjects reached the strict time limit of 30 min (analysed by logistic regression and adjusted OR as a post-hoc analysis) under EA compared with most other experimental conditions. Only EA and tramadol were not significantly different (95% Wald confidence limits: non-treatment control vs EA 0.011 to 0.542; placebo pill vs EA 0.009 to 0.438; ibuprofen vs EA 0.021 to 0.766; tramadol vs EA 0.065 to 1.436).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a laboratory setting, an EA procedure was as effective as a single dose of an orally administered opiate in reducing experimentally induced ischaemic pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany. frauke.musial@uit.no
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Musial
authors.forename: Kyung-Eun
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gabriel
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lüdtke
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rampp
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michalsen
authors.forename: Gustav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dobos
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000328:Adult; D000698:Analgesia / Q000379:methods*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000494:pharmacology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000187:drug effects; D014111:Tourniquets; D014147:Tramadol / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014147:Tramadol; D007052:Ibuprofen