BACKGROUND: Modern acupuncture anesthesia is a combination of Chinese and Western medicine that integrates the theories of acupuncture with anesthesia. However, some clinical studies of acupuncture anesthesia lack specific descriptions of randomization, allocation concealment, and blinding processes, with subsequent systematic reviews indicating a risk of bias. OBJECTIVE: Clinical trial registration is essential for the enhancement of the quality of clinical trials. This study aims to summarize the status of clinical trial registrations for acupuncture anesthesia listed on the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the ICTRP for clinical trials related to acupuncture anesthesia registered between January 1, 2001 and May 31, 2023. Additionally, related publications were retrieved from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and Wanfang Data. Registrations and publications were analyzed for consistency in trial design characteristics. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Clinical trials that utilized one of several acupuncture-related therapies in combination with pharmacological anesthesia during the perioperative period were eligible for this review. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: Data extracted from articles included type of surgical procedure, perioperative symptoms, study methodology, type of intervention, trial recruitment information, and publication information related to clinical enrollment. RESULTS: A total of 166 trials related to acupuncture anesthesia from 21 countries were included in the analysis. The commonly reported symptoms in the included studies were postoperative nausea and vomiting (19.9%) and postoperative pain (13.3%). The concordance between the publications and the trial protocols in the clinical registry records was poor, with only 31.7% of the studies being fully compatible. Inconsistency rates were high for sample size (39.0%, 16/41), blinding (36.6%, 15/41), and secondary outcome indicators (24.4%, 10/41). CONCLUSION The volume of acupuncture anesthesia clinical trials registered in international trial registries over the last 20 years is low, with insufficient disclosure of results. Postoperative nausea and vomiting as well as postoperative pain, are the most investigated for acupuncture intervention. Please cite this article as: Li Y, Liu YN, Guo Z, Gu ME, Wang WJ, Zhu Y, Zhuang XJ, Chen LM, Zhou J, Li J. Current situation of clinical trial registration in acupuncture anesthesia: A scoping review. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(3): 256-263.
Humans ; Acupuncture Analgesia ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Anesthesia ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; Registries

The evolution of acupuncture anesthesia (AA) has spanned six decades. Cardiothoracic surgery serves as a representative case study to illustrate this evolution. Reflecting on its historical development, the use of AA in cardiothoracic surgery has advanced from basic AA procedures in the 1960s to combined acupuncture and drug anesthesia techniques in the early 1980s. Since 2005, the innovative use of non-intubation AA combined anesthesia has been implemented extensively in cardiothoracic surgery. As the medical industry continues to evolve, the techniques applied in AA have expanded to encompass the entire perioperative period in cardiothoracic surgery, leading to the introduction of the concept of modern AA. The use of AA in cardiothoracic surgery exemplifies the ongoing advances and integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Moving forward, it is imperative to enhance the theoretical framework of AA through the execution of rigorous multicenter clinical trials, to further strengthen the body of evidence supporting evidence-based medicine, and to finally explore the underlying mechanisms of AA. Please cite this article as: Wu XD, Wei XQ, Chen TY, Zhou WX, Wang K, Zhou J. From pioneering to innovation: A comprehensive review of acupuncture anesthesia in cardiothoracic surgeries. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):623-629.
Humans ; Acupuncture Analgesia/methods* ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures ; Anesthesia/methods* ; Thoracic Surgical Procedures

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture pretreatment on the quality of recovery in the patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery. METHODS: Sixty patients for elective laparoscopic resection of gastrointestinal tumors under general anesthesia were randomly assigned to either an observation group or a control group, with 30 patients in each group. In the control group, the routine inhalation-intravenous combined general anesthesia was adopted. On the basis of the control group, in the observation group, 30 min before anesthesia induction, electroacupuncture was applied to bilateral Neiguan (PC 6) and Neimadian (Extra) for 30 min, using disperse-dense wave and at 2 Hz/100 Hz. The recovery time of spontaneous breathing, awakening time, extubation time, and the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) stay time were compared between the two groups. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and oxygen saturation (SpO₂) were recorded at multiple time points: before electroacupuncture (T0), before extubation (T1), immediately after extubation (T2), 5 minutes (T3) and 10 minutes (T4) after extubation, and upon discharge from PACU (T5). The visual analogue scale (VAS) score for pain and Ramsay sedation score at T3, T4 and T5 were observed; and the incidence of agitation, nausea and vomiting at T5 was evaluated in the two groups. At T0 and T5, the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and cortisol were determined in the two groups. RESULTS: In the observation group, the recovery time of spontaneous breathing, awakening time, extubation time, and PACU stay time were shorter (P<0.001), MAP and HR at T2 were lower (P<0.01, P<0.05), the VAS scores for pain at T3, T4, and T5 dropped (P<0.001, P<0.01), and the Ramsay sedation score at T3 reduced (P<0.05) compared with those in the control group. The incidence of nausea and vomiting was lower in the observation group when compared with that in the control group (P<0.05). In comparison with the indexes at T0, the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and cortisol increased at T5 in both groups (P<0.01); and these indexes at T5 in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05). CONCLUSION Electroacupuncture pretreatment can enhance the quality of recovery in the patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrointestinal tumor surgery, shorten the time for spontaneous breathing recovery, awakening, extubation and PACU stay, and attenuate postoperative pain and stress response.
Humans ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Laparoscopy ; Adult ; Aged ; Anesthesia Recovery Period ; Interleukin-6/blood* ; Pain, Postoperative/therapy* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/blood* ; Young Adult ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/therapy* ; Acupuncture Analgesia

OBJECTIVE: To review the research progress of injection sites of local infiltration analgesia (LIA) in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: The relevant domestic and foreign literature in recent years was extensively reviewed. The neuroanatomy of the knee, and the research progress of the selection and the difference of effectiveness between different injection sites of LIA in clinical studies were summarized. RESULTS: Large concentrations of nociceptors are present throughout the various tissues of the knee joint. Patellar tendon, subpatellar fat pad, lateral collateral ligament insertions, iliotibial band insertions, suprapatellar capsule, and posterior capsule were more sensitive to pain. Most current studies support injections into the lateral capsule, collateral ligament, retinaculum, quadriceps tendon, fat pad, and subcutaneous tissue. Whether to inject into the back of the knee and subperiosteum is controversial. CONCLUSION The relative difference of knee tissue sensitivity to pain has guiding significance for the selection of LIA injection site after TKA. Although researchers have conducted clinical trials on injection site and technique of LIA in TKA, there are certain limitations. The optimal scheme has not been determined yet, and further studies are needed.
Humans ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee/methods* ; Pain, Postoperative/prevention & control* ; Pain Management/methods* ; Analgesia/methods* ; Knee Joint/anatomy & histology* ; Anesthesia, Local/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of epidural labor analgesia duration on the outcomes of different anesthetic approaches for conversion to cesarean section. METHODS: We retrospectively collected the clinical data of pregnant women undergoing conversion from epidural labor analgesia to cesarean section at Sichuan Maternal and Child Health Hospital and Jinjiang District Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital between July, 2019 and June, 2020. For cesarean section, the women received epidural anesthesia when the epidural catheter was maintained in correct position with effective analgesia, spinal anesthesia at the discretion of the anesthesiologists, or general anesthesia in cases requiring immediate cesarean section or following failure of epidural anesthesia or spinal anesthesia. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine the cutoff value of the analgesia duration using Youden index. The women were divided into two groups according to the cut off value for analyzing the relative risk using cross tabulations. RESULTS: A total of 820 pregnant women undergoing conversion to cesarean section were enrolled in this analysis, including 615 (75.0%) in epidural anesthesia group, 186 (22.7%) in spinal anesthesia group, and 19 (2.3%) in general anesthesia group; none of the women experienced failure of epidural or spinal anesthesia. The mean anesthesia duration was 8.2±4.7 h in epidural anesthesia, 10.6±5.1 h in spinal anesthesia group, and 6.7 ± 5.2 h in general anesthesia group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that prolongation of analgesia duration by 1 h (OR=1.094, 95% CI: 1.057-1.132, P < 0.001) and an increase of cervical orifice by 1 cm (OR=1.066, 95% CI: 1.011-1.124, P=0.017) were independent risk factors for epidural analgesia failure. The cutoff value of analgesia duration was 9.5 h, and beyond that duration the relative risk of receiving spinal anesthesia was 1.204 (95% CI: 1.103-2.341, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Prolonged epidural labor analgesia increases the risk of failure of epidural analgesia for conversion to epidural anesthesia. In cases with an analgesia duration over 9.5 h, spinal anesthesia is recommended if immediate cesarean section is not required.
Analgesia, Epidural/adverse effects* ; Analgesia, Obstetrical/adverse effects* ; Anesthesia, Obstetrical ; Cesarean Section ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of local infiltration anesthesia of ropivacaine combined with compound betamethasone for postoperative analgesia in patients with hallux valgus. METHODS: From September 2019 to December 2020, 48 patients with hallux valgus were treated surgically. According to different postoperative analgesia methods, the patients were divided into combined local infiltration group and intravenous analgesia pump group. There were 24 cases, in the combined local infiltration group including 2 males and 22 females;the age ranged from 21 to 78 years old, with an average of (58.3±7.7) years old;soft tissue release and chevron osteotomy were performed in 15 cases and metatarsophalangeal joint fusion in 9 cases;immediately after operation, 20 ml of ropivacaine combined with compound betamethasone mixed diluent was used for local infiltration anesthesia once. There were 24 patients in intravenous analgesia pump group, including 3 males and 21 females;the age ranged from 23 to 81 years old, with an average of(56.8±8.3) years old;soft tissue release and Chevron osteotomy were performed in 17 cases and metatarsophalangeal joint fusion in 7 cases;immediately after operation, intravenous analgesia pump was used for analgesia. The basic flow was 2 ml / h;the self control dose was 0.5 ml;and the locking time was 15 min. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was recorded at 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours after operation;and the VAS was recorded at 24 hours after operation. The occurrence of adverse drug reactions at 0 to 12 hours, 12 to 24 hours and 24 to 48 hours after operation were recorded;and the healing of incision was recorded. RESULTS: All patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 14 to 17 days, with a mean of (14.60±0.92) days. There was significantdifference in VAS at 12, 24 and 48 hours between the combined local infiltration group and the intravenous analgesia pump group( CONCLUSION Compared with intravenous analgesia pump group, ropivacaine combined with compound betamethasone can significantly reduce postoperative wound pain without increasing adverse drug reactions, and does not increase wound infection.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Analgesia ; Anesthesia, Local ; Bunion ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Hallux Valgus/surgery* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain, Postoperative/drug therapy* ; Young Adult

Acupuncture Analgesia ; Acupuncture Points ; Anesthesia ; Thyroidectomy

The interventional cardiology is growing and evolving. Many complex procedures are now performed outside the operating room to manage cardiovascular pathologies which had been traditionally treated with cardiac surgery. Appropriate sedation strategy is crucial for improved patient comfort and successful procedure while ensuring safety. Sedation for cardiovascular intervention is frequently challenging, especially in critically-ill, high-risk patients. This review addresses pre-procedure evaluation and preparation of patients, proper monitoring, commonly used sedatives and analgesics, and considerations for specific procedures. Appropriate depth of sedation and analgesia should be balanced with patient, procedural and institutional factors. Understanding of the pharmacology of sedatives/analgesics, vigilant monitoring, ability and proper preparation for management of potential complications may improve outcomes in patients undergoing sedation for cardiovascular procedures.
Analgesia ; Analgesics ; Anesthesia ; Cardiology ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Operating Rooms ; Pathology ; Pharmacology ; Thoracic Surgery

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the pain perception and anesthetic efficacy of 2% lignocaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine, buffered lignocaine, and 4% articaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine for the inferior alveolar nerve block. METHODS: This was a double-blind crossover study involving 48 children aged 5–10 years, who received three inferior alveolar nerve block injections in three appointments scheduled one week apart from the next. Pain on injection was assessed using the Wong-Baker Faces pain scale and the sound eye motor scale (SEM). Efficacy of anesthesia was assessed by subjective (tingling or numbness of the lip, tongue, and corner of mouth) and objective signs (pain on probing). RESULTS: Pain perception on injection assessed with Wong-Baker scale was significantly different between buffered lignocaine and lignocaine (P < 0.001) and between buffered lignocaine and articaine (P = 0.041). The onset of anesthesia was lowest for buffered lignocaine, with a statistically significant difference between buffered lignocaine and lignocaine (P < 0.001). Moreover, the efficacy of local analgesia assessed using objective signs was significantly different between buffered lignocaine and lignocaine (P < 0.001) and between lignocaine and articaine. CONCLUSION: Buffered lignocaine was the least painful and the most efficacious anesthetic agent during the inferior alveolar nerve block injection in 5–10-year-old patients.
Analgesia ; Anesthesia ; Appointments and Schedules ; Buffers ; Carticaine ; Child ; Cross-Over Studies ; Epinephrine ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Lidocaine ; Lip ; Mandibular Nerve ; Pain Perception ; Tongue

BACKGROUND: The clinical outcomes and safety of thoracic epidural catheterization in anesthetized adult patients has not yet been established. The purpose of this study was to compare clinical differences between epidural catheterization performed before and after anesthesia for postoperative pain control. METHODS: The medical records of 549 patients who received thoracic epidural catheterization before (awake group, n = 303) or after (anesthetized group, n = 246) induction of anesthesia for major abdominal surgery were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: The catheter insertion time (1.6 ± 1.5 vs. 1.1 ± 1.2 min; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.3–0.8; effect size, 0.368; P < 0.001) and number of attempts required for successful epidural catheterization (1 [1, 3] vs. 1 [1, 2], P = 0.003) were increased in the awake group. The incidence rates of dural puncture, vascular injury and postoperative paresthesia were similar between the two groups. The median surgical site numerical rating scale pain score (0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain imaginable) was lower in the awake group than in the anesthetized group (3 vs. 4 on postoperative day 1, P < 0.001; and 2 vs. 3 on postoperative day 3, P = 0.002). Serious complications, including meningitis, epidural abscess, epidural hematoma, spinal cord injury, and paraplegia, were not observed in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Successful epidural catheterization before induction of anesthesia required more attempts versus after anesthesia. Overall complication rates of thoracic epidural catheterization were similar regardless of the timing of the procedure.
Adult ; Analgesia, Epidural ; Anesthesia ; Catheterization* ; Catheters* ; Epidural Abscess ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal ; Humans ; Incidence ; Medical Records ; Meningitis ; Pain, Postoperative ; Paraplegia ; Paresthesia ; Postoperative Complications ; Punctures ; Retrospective Studies* ; Vascular System Injuries