Acupuncture hastens postoperative recovery following abdominal surgery

A systematic review published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine has suggested that acupuncture is effective at reducing postoperative ileus and other known issues following surgery for colorectal cancer.

• Randomized controlled trials were identified from various biomedical databases, both in English and in Chinese.
• Twenty-two studies involving a total of 1,628 participants (who were 18-years-old or older during the time of their operation) were analyzed. Five were sham-controlled. Outcomes for these studies were divided into:
  • Recovery in gastrointestinal function (21 studies),
  • Recovery of urinary function (1 study),
  • Postoperative abdominal distension (3 studies), and
  • Quality of life (1 study)
• Acupuncture following a colorectal surgery improved gastrointestinal function.
• In particular, the stimulation of point ST26 Zusanli was seen to have the greatest impact on recovery.

These results add supporting evidence to the usefulness of alternative therapies in the recovery of patients following a major surgery.

You can read the full text of the study at this link.

Acupuncture may be used to treat other conditions as well. From alleviating nausea to improving the quality of sleep, this healing art is scientifically documented to help you live the life you deserve. Learn more about this traditional Chinese remedy at ChineseMedicine.news.

Journal Reference:

Liu Y, May BH, Zhang AL, Guo X, Lu C, Xue CC, Zhang H. ACUPUNCTURE AND RELATED THERAPIES FOR TREATMENT OF POSTOPERATIVE ILEUS IN COLORECTAL CANCER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 29 July 2018;2018(3178472):1–18. DOI: 10.1155/2018/3178472