Electroacupuncture for the prevention of postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction in participants undergoing vascular laparotomy under general anesthesia: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction (PGD) is a common complication following laparotomy under general anesthesia (GA). Abdominal distension occurs in 8-28% of surgeries within 24 h postoperatively. The present study aimed to analyze the efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) for the prevention of PGD by applying preoperative EA stimulation of PC6 (), ST36 (), and ST37 () bilaterally twice within 24 h prior to surgery, compared with no acupuncture treatment.

P6 acupoint stimulation for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing craniotomy: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is 50 to 79% after neurosurgery. Our study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of pericardium 6 (P6; also known as Neiguan) acupoint stimulation versus placebo, and versus routine antiemetic for the prevention of PONV after craniotomy, as well as to compare the efficacy of invasive acupuncture with non-invasive transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on P6.

Methods/design: This is a single-center, prospective, double-blind, five-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial (RCT).