Acupuncture in Kidney Surgery

Acupuncture for Nephrectomy

The pain after nephrectomy, just as any other surgery, is one of the problems that surgeons confront. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relieving effect of acupuncture on the pain experienced after nephrectomy. This was a clinical trial that was performed on 30 patients with mean age of 40.8 ± 12.54 who were candidates for nephrectomy. After matching for gender and age, the patients were divided into either acupuncture or control group. In acupuncture group, four points were stimulated for 30 minutes, and in control group, other points were stimulated ineffectively for 30 min. Then, the pain experienced in the first six hours after the surgery was registered by a blind observer based on visual analog scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and the t-test. Our results showed that the severity of pain in the acupuncture group was significantly lower than that in the control group. Also, there were six patients who required opioids in the acupuncture group, but there were 12 such patients in the control group. The mean opiate used in the control group was significantly greater than the mean for the acupuncture group. Acupuncture can reduce the severity of pain and the demand for opioids in patients who have undergone nephrectomy.

Source: Tabassi KT, Amini P, Mohammadi S, Razavizadeh RT, Golchian A. The effect of acupuncture on pain score after open kidney surgery. J Complement Integr Med. 2015 Apr 29.