When you think of anaesthesia in surgery, the focus is usually on strong drugs that keep patients unconscious and pain-free. But new research suggests that acupuncture can reduce anaesthetic drug requirements, improve recovery, and minimize side effects.
A major network meta-analysis of 76 randomized controlled trials (nearly 6,000 patients), published in Frontiers in Medicine (2023), provides some of the most robust open-access evidence to date.
🔍 Study Design and Surgical Context
The meta-analysis evaluated patients undergoing a wide range of surgeries under general anaesthesia. Researchers compared:
🌿 Manual Acupuncture (MA) – needle insertion with manual stimulation
⚡ Electroacupuncture (EA) – needle stimulation with mild electrical current
🔌 Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation (TEAS) – electrical stimulation through skin electrodes
All patients received standard anaesthesia, but some also received one of these acupuncture interventions.
✨ Intraoperative Outcomes
🌿 Reduced Anaesthetic Requirements
Patients who received acupuncture required lower intraoperative doses of agents like propofol and remifentanil, while maintaining stable anaesthetic depth.
🥇 Manual Acupuncture Most Effective
Among the methods studied, manual acupuncture showed the strongest anaesthetic-sparing effect, outperforming EA and TEAS.
🩺 Postoperative Outcomes
⏱️ Faster Emergence and Recovery
Patients in the acupuncture groups generally experienced smoother awakening and earlier extubation.
🤢 Lower Incidence of Side Effects
By reducing anaesthetic drug use, acupuncture helped limit postoperative nausea, vomiting, and grogginess, contributing to improved patient comfort.
🧠 Mechanistic Insights
- Neurophysiological pathways: Acupuncture modulates pain and sedation responses through central and peripheral nerves.
- Anti-inflammatory action: Decreases stress-related cytokines during surgical trauma.
- Endocannabinoid system: Activates natural pain- and stress-regulating pathways.
🌍 Clinical Significance
This evidence suggests that acupuncture can be an effective adjunct to general anaesthesia in surgical practice.
✅ Drug-sparing effect improves intraoperative safety
✅ Faster recovery enhances perioperative efficiency
✅ Fewer complications improve patient satisfaction
✅ Broad applicability across diverse surgical procedures
🌟 Surgical Takeaway
The integration of acupuncture into perioperative care shows strong potential to optimize anaesthetic management. While it is not a replacement for standard anaesthesia, it can serve as a valuable complementary strategy for safer, more efficient, and more comfortable surgical outcomes.
📖 Read the full open-access paper here:
Written by -Dharmik Gada
