The effect of pre-emptive acupuncture treatment on analgesic requirements after day-case knee arthroscopy

The role of acupuncture analgesia in the management of postoperative pain is yet to be clearly evaluated. We conducted a prospective, double-blind, randomised controlled study to evaluate the effect of acupuncture pretreatment on the analgesic requirement after knee arthroscopy. Forty-two patients presenting for unilateral knee arthroscopy were randomly allocated to receive a standard anaesthetic with or without acupuncture (given after the induction of anaesthesia). Visual analogue pain scores, time to first postoperative analgesia and total analgesia requirement in the first 24 h were recorded. There was no significant difference between the two groups in any of the outcome measures. We conclude that acupuncture analgesia has no additional effect when given under anaesthesia to patients undergoing knee arthroscopy.