Reduction seen in pain, nausea, stress, and anxiety, as well as incidence of atrial fibrillation<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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FRIDAY, Oct. 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Acupuncture after heart valve surgery is feasible and safe and has clinical benefit, according to a study recently published in\u00a0JTCVS Open<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kim L. Feingold, Ph.D., from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues randomly assigned (1:1) patients undergoing primary valve surgery via sternotomy to acupuncture (51 individuals) or standard care (49 individuals).\u00a0<\/em>Daily inpatient acupuncture sessions started on postoperative day 1.<\/p>\n The researchers found that an average of 3.8 acupuncture sessions were delivered per patient during a mean hospital stay of 4.6 days. Acupuncture was associated with lower pain, nausea, stress, and anxiety after each session and\u00a0across admission versus standard care. Additionally, acupuncture was associated with a lower incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (acupuncture, 13.7 percent; standard care, 32.7 percent), fewer discharges on amiodarone (acupuncture, 9.8 percent; standard care, 26.5 percent), and fewer hours in the intensive care unit (acupuncture, 30.3; standard care, 37.0).<\/p>\n “We learned that acupuncture after open heart surgery is feasible in this fast-paced environment — even in the intensive care unit the day after surgery — and was well tolerated by patients with no adverse effects,” Feingold said in a statement. “The majority of patients had no prior history with acupuncture, demonstrating their openness to receive integrative therapies after surgery. Overall, patients reported that it was a pleasant and positive aspect of their cardiovascular surgery recovery.”<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to the medical technology industry.<\/p>\n