No one undergoes surgery and expects the recovery to be pleasant. Western medicine has certainly earned its place in terms of surgical intervention when necessary. Unfortunately, even successful procedures often come with an unwelcome companion: pain. For decades, opioid medications have been one of the primary tools to manage that pain. Sure, they’re highly effective, but these medications also come with a litany of unwanted side effects, such as nausea, dizziness, sedation, constipation, and risk of addiction. So now you may be thinking: but what other tools are there to manage the pain of having been cut open and sewn shut? A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150367] led by researchers at Taipei Medical University sought to answer that very question by examining the effectiveness of acupuncture and related therapies in managing postoperative pain, and the results were encouraging. Putting Acupuncture to the Test Researchers reviewed 13 randomized controlled trials involving 682 patients who underwent a variety of medical procedures. The studies compared acupuncture and acupuncture-related therapies, including electroacupuncture and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS), a technique that applies gentle electrical stimulation to acupuncture points without the use of needles, against control treatments. By combining data from multiple clinical trials, the researchers hoped to gain insight into whether acupuncture could improve recovery following surgery. The Findings Across the studies reviewed, patients who received acupuncture or related therapies reported less pain on the first day after surgery compared to those who received the control treatments. Researchers also found that patients receiving acupuncture-related interventions generally took less opioid medication during recovery. This is significant because reducing reliance on opioids may help minimize some of the side effects commonly associated with postoperative pain management. Among the different types of acupuncture they studied, they found that conventional acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) were the most successful in mitigating postoperative pain. TEAS also appeared particularly effective at reducing opioid use following surgery. Why it Matters Effective pain management after surgery can fundamentally impact the overall experience during the healing process. Despite opioid medications being an integral part of postoperative care, healthcare providers continuously search for complementary approaches that may help patients recover more comfortably while reducing reliance on medication. This review suggests that acupuncture may be one of those tools. While the authors note that additional high-quality research is still necessary, the findings support acupuncture’s potential role as an adjunct to conventional strategies to manage postoperative pain. What This Means for You Recovering from surgery is far from a walk in the park, and unfortunately, there is no single approach that can make it one. However, this review highlights acupuncture as an additional, non-opioid option for supporting recovery and managing discomfort after surgery. And if you’d like to explore whether acupuncture could play a role in your own recovery journey, the wisdm directory [https://www.wisdm.org/practitioners?specialty=acupuncture] can help you find the right practitioner. Read the full article here [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150367].
