Acupuncture in the anesthetic management of eye surgery

A study was conducted on twenty-four patients who underwent surgery for retinal detachment as to the clinical effect of acupuncture from the viewpoints of anesthetic dose, intraoperative changes in blood pressure and heart rate, postoperative analgesic state, nausea and vomiting. The patients were divided into two groups: group A, eleven patients receiving neuroleptanesthesia combined with acupuncture analgesia and group N, thirteen patients receiving usual neuroleptanesthesia without acupuncture. A significant difference was found in the dose of fentanyl, used as the narcotic, between group A (0.11 mg) and group N (0.48 mg). No difference was noted in blood pressure between the two groups, but it was high in group N in the postoperative period. There was no difference in heart rate between the two groups. Two patients from group A and five from group N required analgesics in the postoperative period. Nausea and vomiting were encountered in one patient in group A and three in group N. Therefore, it would seem that anesthesia in combination with acupuncture is capable of reducing the required dose of narcotic and offering more comfortable postoperative conditions than usual anesthesia alone.