ANESTHETIC EFFECT OF ACUPUNCTURE DURING SUBTOTAL GASTRECTOMY

Tan Shujia, Ouyang Baoyi, Wang Xinci, Zhu Shiwen, Mai Shuying, Tan Shuxian

(Department of Anesthesiology, the First Hospital, Guangzhou Medical College, Guangzhou)

We have estimated the anesthetic effect of acupuncture and its expression form by examining the patients' subjective sensation and some physiological parameters during subtotal gastrectomy.

Having a basic anesthesia by intravenous Valium-Scopolamine-Fentanyl injection, the patients were divided into two groups at random. The acupuncture group: points of Zusanli (both sides), Jiuwei and Shuifen were selected. Pulsating electrical current, generated by Type G-6805 transistor apparatus, with low frequency continuous wave and tolerable stimulant intensity, was delivered to each point. The control group: no acupuncture The efficacy of analgesia, the degree of muscle relaxation and the response of visceral dragging were then estimated by the patients' feeling, the changes of respiratory rate, pulse and blood pressure during the whole anesthetic and operation processes.

There was no significant difference in the anesthetic time and Fentanyl dosage between both groups (P>0.05). The acupuncture group showed an increase of respiratory rate-(P<0.05) while incising duodenum; the control group showed an increase of pulse rate (P<0.05) in a period from managing the blood vessels around the stomach to lift the je-Junum. Blood pressure was significantly higher in both groups in the period from lifting the stomach to the end of the operation (P<0.05), as compared with those before anesthesia. The difference in respiratory rate, pulse rate, blood pressure and anesthetic effect between two groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05). But, more relaxation in abdominal muscles was noticed in acupuncture group when managing the blood vessels around the stomach.

According to the result, we considered that it seemed no sufficient effect on the relief of pain and on the operation which induced respiratory disturbance by acupuncturing Zusanli-Jiuwei-Shuifen during subtotal gastrectomy. Although pulse rate of acupuncture group was not as fast as that in control group, showing that there might be some stabilized effects of acupuncture on body internal regulation, yet it could not completely block the irritation response caused by the operation. The relaxation effect on abdominal muscles during acupuncture might be connected with the possibility that under strong and persisting electrical stimulation the abdominal muscles perhaps produced post-tetanic facilitation response.