OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of general anesthesia, acupuncture at acupoints compound general anesthesia and acupuncture at non-acupoints compound general anesthesia on the perioperative analgesic effect in patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

METHODSNinety patients scheduled to undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly divided into a general anesthesia group (group A), an acupuncture at acupoints compound general anesthesia group (group B) and an acupuncture at non-acupoints compound general anesthesia group (group C), 30 cases in each group. General anesthesias were all induced by Fentanyl, Propofol and Vecuronium Bromide. The bilateral Hegu (LI 4), Neiguan (PC 6), Zusanli (ST 36) and Yanglingquan (GB 34) were selected in the group B, and the middle points of the line connecting the meridians where every acupoint mentioned above belonged and their lateral neighbor meridians selected in the group C. The dosage of anesthetics, the time of goggle and the time of evulsion cannulation and direction location in all the patients were compared, and the dosage of analgesia pump within 4, 6, 8, 24 and 44 hours and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of pain were recorded after surgery.

RESULTSThe dosage of Fentanyl in the group B was obviously lower than that in both the group A and the group C (both P<0.05), and the dosages of Propofol and Vecuronium Bromide in the group B were obviously lower than those in the group A (P<0.05, P<0.01). The time of goggle, evulsion cannulation and direction location in the group B were significantly shorter than those in the other groups (all P<0.01). After surgery, the dosage of analgesia pump in the group B was significantly fewer than that in the group C within 4 and 6 hours (both P<0.05), and it was significantly fewer than that in the group A within 4, 6, 8 hours (all P<0.05). The scores of VAS of pain at 44th hour after surgery in the group B were obviously lower than those in the other groups (both P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture at acupoints can enhance the anesthetic effect of compound general anesthesia and prolong the analgesia period. Acupuncture at non-points has a certain effect, but their effectiveness is less than that of acupoints. Thus, the acupoint has the specificity and accurate acupoint selection is the key factor affecting analgesia effect.