The Effect of Acupuncture on the Post-Thoracotomy Pain Control / 대한흉부외과학회지

ABSTRACT

The management of post-thoracotomy pain is one of the difficult clinical problems. A variety of pain management methods have been used with variable efficacy. We compared the effect of acupuncture with the effect of analgesics for the post-thoracotomy pain control. From March 1995 to September 1995, 20 patients who underwent elective thoracotomy were randomized into two groups. The patients were treated with analgesics in control group(n=10) and acupuncture in the other group(n=10). Postoperative analgesic effects were evaluated by the scoring system which was made by the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Korea University Medical Center. No significant difference was observed between two groups concerning the subjective pain and limitation of motion of operated side. Although the number of analgesic requirement was reduced significantly in the acupuncture group (P<0.05). We conclude that acupuncture is an effective method to control post-thoracotomy pain and it is safer than the analgesics bacause of its lower side effects.