Acupuncture Supports Local Anesthesia

Acupuncture Supports Local Anesthesia

Dental procedures cause pain. Anesthesia is a solution. Injection of anesthetic causes pain. Acupuncture might be a solution. Usichenko et al. from the Department of Anesthesiology and Department of Preventive Dentistry and Pediatric Stomatology, University Medicine of Greifswald, and Department of Pediatrics, Carl Gustav Carus University, Dresden, Germany conducted a study to assess the effect of stimulation of Hegu (LI 4) on patients experiencing acute pain in children who received injection of local anesthetic (LA) for their dental procedures. Children scheduled for dental procedures with local anesthesia received bilateral acupuncture at Hegu (LI 4) using indwelling fixed needles. The children’s parents stimulated the needles by massage during the treatment. This study was to compare two different treatment regimes: a standard LA injection provided five minutes after acupuncture, and an LA injection without acupuncture. The randomization was conducted for the order of treatment, with the two treatments performed in a crossover manner on different days. The primary outcome measure was the pain intensity during LA injection measured by the Verbal Rating Scale or Faces Pain Scale (0-10). Other outcome measures included parent- and dentist-assessed pain intensity and agitation, heart rate, and the patients' satisfaction. The study demonstrated that patients had less pain when acupuncture was used: mean 2.3 (95% CI: 1.5-3.1) versus 3.9 (95% CI: 3.0-4.7); P<0.001. The study also revealed that the patients' heart rate remained low throughout the dental treatment after Hegu (L I4) stimulation compared to no acupuncture group (P<0.05); acupuncture increased satisfaction levels in both the patients and their parents compared to LA injection alone (P<0.05). The study concluded that stimulation of Hegu (LI 4) reduced pain and autonomic distress in children during LA injection in dental procedures. 

Source:  Usichenko TI, Wolters P, Anders EF, Splieth C. Acupuncture Reduces Pain and Autonomic Distress During Injection of Local Anesthetic in Children - A Pragmatic Crossover Investigation. Clin J Pain. 2015 Feb 25.