title: Single-blinded, randomised preliminary study evaluating the effects of 2 Hz electroacupuncture for postoperative pain in patients with total knee arthroplasty.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the point-specific clinical effect of 2 Hz electroacupuncture (EA) in treating postoperative pain in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), METHODS: In a randomised, partially single-blinded preliminary study, 47patients with TKA were randomly divided into three groups: control group (CG, n=17) using only patient-controlled analgesia (PCA); EA group (EAG, n=16) with 2 Hz EA applied at ST36 (Zusanli) and GB34 (Yanglingquan) contralateral to the operated leg for 30 min on the first two postoperative days, also receiving PCA; and non-point group (NPG, n=14), with EA identical to the EAG except given 1 cm lateral to both ST36 and GB34. The Mann-Whitney test was used to show the difference between two groups and the Kruskal-Wallis test to show the difference between the three groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The time until patients first required PCA in the CG was 34.1±22.0 min, which was significantly shorter than the 92.0±82.7 min in the EAG (p<0.001) and 90.7±94.8 min in the NPG (p<0.001); there was no difference between the EAG and NPG groups (p>0.05). The total dosage of PCA solution given was 4.6±0.9 mL/kg body weight in the CG, 4.2±1.0 mL/kg in the EAG and 4.5±1.0 mL/kg in the NPG; there were no significant differences (p>0.05) among the three groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this small preliminary study, EA retarded the first demand for PCA in comparison with no EA. No effect was seen on the total dosage of PCA required and no point-specific effect was seen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan Department of Nursing, Hung Kuang University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chung-Yuh
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Tzeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Botanicals and Health Care, Da-Yeh University, Chunghwa, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Liang
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan Department of Financial and Computational Mathematics, Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Hung Kuang University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chu-Ling
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Gii
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kwok-Man
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kui-Chou
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan Department of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan Research Center for Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Liang
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8187-4716
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hsieh
mesh_terms: D015667:Acupuncture Analgesia; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000368:Aged; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000601:surgery*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome