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ANESTHETIC PHARMACOLOGY

Minute Sphere Acupressure Does Not Reduce Postoperative Pain or Morphine Consumption

Masatomo Sakurai, MD^*, Muhammad-Irfan Suleman, MD^*, Nobutada Morioka, MD^*, Ozan Akça, MD^*, and Daniel I. Sessler, MD^*,

*Outcomes Research^® Institute and Department of Anesthesiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky; and Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Daniel I. Sessler, MD, Outcomes Research^® Institute, 501 E. Broadway, Ste. 210, Louisville, KY 40202. Address e-mail to sesslerdan{at}aol.com

Minute sphere acupressure has been used for more than 2000 yr and remains popular in Japan. The points most relevant to abdominal surgery are those associated with meridian flows crossing or originating in the abdomen. We tested the hypothesis that minute sphere therapy reduces pain and analgesic requirements after open abdominal surgery. Participating patients were given standardized desflurane and fentanyl anesthetic. On completion of surgery, they were randomly assigned to untreated control or minute sphere acupressure at the Neiguan, Zusanli, Sanyinjiao, and Gongsun points. Each site was covered with bulky gauze dressings so that patients could not determine their assignments. Postoperative pain was treated with IV morphine via a patient-controlled analgesia pump. Our primary a priori end-points were pain and opioid consumption on the first postoperative morning. Data are reported as median (25th percentile, 75th percentile). Fifty-three patients (30 controls and 23 minute spheres) completed the study. Morphine requirements (47 mg [27, 58] vs 41 mg [25, 69]) and pain scores (29.5 mm [16, 59] vs 40 mm [22, 58]) were similar in the control and acupressure groups. These data provide an 80% power for detecting a 50% difference in morphine consumption at an of 0.05. Minute sphere treatment at the Neiguan, Zusanli, Sanyinjiao, and Gongsun points thus failed to provide analgesia after abdominal surgery.

Minute sphere therapy is a form of acupuncture. We tested whether minute spheres placed on three acupressure points relevant to abdominal surgery reduced pain and morphine requirements after abdominal surgery. Treatment and control patients received a similar covering. Neither pain nor morphine requirements were different between the groups.

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Anesthesia & Analgesia® is published for the International Anesthesia Research Society® by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins with the assistance of Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press®. Copyright 2006 by the International Anesthesia Research Society. Online ISSN: 1526-7598   Print ISSN: 0003-2999