Wrist-ankle acupuncture in conjunction with patient-controlled intravenous analgesia significantly reduces postoperative pain and complications in patients undergoing Milligan-Morgan hemorrhoidectomy.
Patients who underwent Milligan-Morgan hemorrhoidectomy for mixed hemorrhoids were randomly divided into two groups of 62 each. The control group underwent standard postoperative patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) while the treatment group received additional wrist-ankle acupuncture therapy. The effectiveness of these processes was evaluated by assessing the patients' pain relief at different intervals postoperatively, taking into account metrics such as PCIA usage, the need for extra analgesia for pain relief, and the occurrence of any postoperative complications.
Upon analysis of the procedures, the treatment group, which received wrist-ankle acupuncture in addition to regular postoperative care, recorded significantly lower pain scores starting from 12 hours after the operation. Furthermore, this group of patients expressed a lower need for additional pain relief measures and had fewer instances of postoperative complications such as constipation and urinary retention than the control group. An encouraging observation was the absence of any adverse events in both groups. This underscores the efficacy and safety of wrist-ankle acupuncture in augmenting postoperative care.
