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Auricular laser acupuncture as an adjunct for parental anxiety management during children's surgery:
Wenrui Lin1, Michelle A Fortier2,3,4, Haydee Cortes3,5,6
1Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.
Insights
Auricular laser acupuncture using the AcuHealth V1.0 system effectively reduced parental anxiety before pediatric surgery. This non-invasive approach proved safe and acceptable for parents awaiting their child's operation.
Area of Science:
- Integrative Medicine
- Pain Management
- Medical Devices
Background:
- Pediatric surgery causes significant anxiety for children and parents.
- Auricular acupuncture shows promise in managing perioperative anxiety.
- A wearable auricular laser acupuncture system (AcuHealth V1.0) was developed for portability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of the AcuHealth V1.0 system for auricular laser acupuncture.
- To assess the impact of auricular laser acupuncture on parental anxiety during pediatric surgery.
Main Methods:
- Parents of children undergoing surgery were randomized into authentic acupuncture, sham acupuncture, or placebo control groups.
- Anxiety levels were measured using a numerical rating scale at multiple time points.
- Device usability and acceptability were assessed post-intervention.
Main Results:
- The authentic auricular laser acupuncture group showed a significant decrease in anxiety 30 minutes post-intervention compared to sham and placebo groups.
- Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences in anxiety reduction between the groups (p=0.001).
- The AcuHealth V1.0 system demonstrated high acceptability and usability with no reported adverse events.
Conclusions:
- The AcuHealth V1.0 system effectively reduced parental anxiety in the perioperative setting.
- Laser auricular acupuncture administered via the AcuHealth V1.0 system is a safe and feasible option for managing parental anxiety.
- This pilot study supports the use of wearable auricular laser acupuncture for anxiety reduction in parents of pediatric surgical patients.
Background:
Pediatric surgery is associated with high levels of anxiety for both children and parents/caregivers. To mitigate anxiety, auricular acupuncture has shown its potential in the perioperative setting. Accordingly, our team developed a wearable prototype auricular laser acupuncture system, AcuHealth V1.0, as a portable acupuncture device and conducted a proof-of-concept evaluation with parents of children undergoing surgery.
Aims:
The primary aim of this study was to conduct feasibility testing of the AcuHealth V1.0 system in delivering auricular laser acupuncture.
Methods:
Parents of children who were scheduled to undergo outpatient surgery were randomly assigned to one of three groups: authentic acupuncture (laser beams at known anxiolytic acupoints, n = 13), sham acupuncture (non-anxiolytic acupoints, n = 14), or a placebo control group (inactive laser, n = 14). Parent self-reported anxiety (0-10 numerical rating scale) was assessed at baseline, pre-intervention (once child was taken to the OR), post-intervention, and at 30 min after the intervention. Usability and acceptability data regarding the device were assessed after the intervention.
Results:
Baseline data revealed no significant difference in anxiety between the three groups. Parent-reported anxiety level at 30-min post-intervention as compared to baseline in the authentic group was significantly decreased (delta mean ± std = -3.58 ± 2.07) compared to both the sham acupuncture (-1.35 ± 2.65) and placebo control group (0.54 ± 1.13). Evaluation of changes in parent-reported anxiety between groups over time using two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant difference between the three groups (p = 0.001). Post hoc analysis with Scheffe test pairwise comparisons showed that at 30-min post-intervention compared to baseline, the authentic intervention group was significantly less anxious compared with both the sham group (p = 0.033) and the placebo control group (p = 0.001). Additionally, feedback regarding the usage of the device supported the acceptability and usability of the device with no adverse events.
Conclusions:
This pilot study administering laser auricular acupuncture via the AcuHealth V1.0 system decreased parental anxiety after 30 min in parents who received treatment immediately after their children were taken to the operating room with no adverse effect.
