Retrospective Analysis of the Effect of Auricular Acupuncture on Pain and Gastrointestinal Motility Recovery After Laparoscopic Surgery for Colorectal Cancer

Objective:To investigate the effect of auricular acupuncture on postoperative pain and gastrointestinal motility recovery after laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer.Methods:The clinical data of patients who underwent laparoscopic radical surgery for colorectal cancer in our hospital from April 2020 to December 2021 were collected.Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria,76 patients were included in the retrospective analysis.Depending on whether they received auricular acupuncture or not,the patients were divided into two groups:46 patients in the experimental group(auricular acupuncture)and 30 patients in the control group.The differences between the two groups were analyzed.Results:The time to first flatus of the experimental group was significantly shorter than that of the control group(52.2±7.36 h versus 66.3±7.83 h;P<0.001).Similarly,the time to first defecation of the experimental group was significantly shorter than that of the control group(76.3±7.76 h versus 86.1±10.79 h;P<0.001).The time to first fluid intake of the auricular group was significantly shorter than that of the control group(90.4±8.92 h versus 107.3±9.66 h,P<0.001).Compared with the control group,the experimental group scored significantly lower on the visual analogue scale on postoperative days 2 and 3(P<0.001).Conclusion:Auricular acupuncture is an effective traditional Chinese medicine external treatment method.It can promote gastrointestinal motility recovery in patients after laparoscopic radical surgery for colorectal cancer and also reduce postoperative pain and discomfort.Furthermore,this therapy is easy to operate and well-accepted by patients.Therefore,it should be strongly promoted in clinical practice.

The use of traditional Chinese medicine internally and externally combined with auricular acupuncture point bloodletting in the treatment of vulvar leukoplakia

Vulvar leukoplakia refers to the chronic disease of degeneration and hypopigmentation of the skin and mucous membrane of the vulva with unbearable itching in women, seriously affecting the quality of life. The main treatment of western medicine for vulvar leukoplakia is the external use of glucocorticoids or estrogen, resulting to the high recurrence rate and side effects. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the characteristics of the overall concept and dialectical treatment with a variety of ways. Literature review in recent years found that the treatment of TCM decoction combined with external therapies, such as external fumigation, acupuncture and other treatments, or the combination of TCM decoction and external western medicine hormone ointment, can obtain good effects in vulvar leukoplakia. During the clinical practice, we found that the use of TCM internally and externally combined with auricular acupuncture point bloodletting was highly effective with unique advantages in the treatment of vulvar leukoplakia, providing the ideas guidance for clinicians.

Clinical Observation on the Treatment of Hypertension by Combination of Modified Banxia Baizhu Tianma Decoction and Auricular Acupuncture

Objective:To observe the curative effect of Jiawei Banxia Baizhu Tianma Decoction(BBTD)in combination with auricular acupuncture in the treatment of primary hypertension with phlegm-dampness syndrome.Methods:120 patients with hypertension were randomly divided into a pure Western medicine treatment control group(referred to as the control group)and an integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment group(referred to as the treatment group),with 60 cases in each group.The control group was given nifedipine sustained-release tablets orally;the treatment group:nifedipine sustained-release tablets were given on the basis of modified BBTD combined with auricular acupuncture.The treatment course duration of the two groups was 4 weeks.Before and after treatment,the two groups were evaluated for treatment efficacy and quality of life.Results:There is statistically significant difference in blood pressure lowering between the treatment group and the control group(P<0.05);the treatment group was better than the control group in symptoms improvement of the patients(P<0.05);in terms of the improvement in quality of life,the treatment group was significantly better than the control group(P<0.05,P<0.01).Conclusion:Modified BBTD combined with auricular acupuncture method can reduce blood pressure and improve clinical symptoms in patients with primary hypertension with phlegm-dampness syndrome,and significantly improve the quality of life of patients.

Auricular Acupuncture and Biomedical Research——A Promising Sino-Austrian Research Cooperation

Treatment by auricular acupuncture has a long history. Ear-acupoint research has been advancing step by step in China and also in Europe. Auricles are rich in nerves, therefore a close relationship with different functions of the human body has been proved by the research teams of the two main authors of this article from China and Austria. In recent years, great progress has been made in the research of regulating human body functions through electroacupuncture at the auricular branch of the vagus nerve, which is part of auricular acupuncture therapy. It is well known that the auricular branch of the vagus nerve is the only peripheral pathway to the cerebral cortex. Studies of the Chinese team on hypertension, diabetes, epilepsy and depression have shown that the mechanism of auricular vagus nerve stimulation （VNS） may be comparable with cervical VNS in terms of pathways. Auricular VNS has a broad clinical application prospect.

Effect of auricular acupuncture on oxygen consumption of boxing athletes

Boxing is an official sport at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the fast development of world-class high strength training and sport science has made a significant impact on scientific training. Boxing needs high cardio-respiratory function, speed, muscle strength, and anaerobic and intensive physical demands including weight control covering the grading of athlete＇s body weight and balancing physical ability and health. Sport training is important even for talented athletes. Weight cycling is a term used to describe rapid weight loss following self food limitation and/or dehydration. Both gradual （seasonal） reduction cycles are used and rapid （weekly） weight by athletes,

Effects of acupuncture on the relationship between cerebral hemodynamics and arterial blood pressure in patients with hypertension

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of an auricular acupuncture intervention on the relationship between changes in oxyhemoglobin concentration(Δ[O2Hb])and arterial blood pressure(ABP).The cerebral oxygenation signals in the bilateral prefrontal cortex(PFC),sensorimotor cortex(SMC),and temporal lobe cortex(TLC)of 15 patients with hypertension were measured by a 24-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS)device before(State_R)and after(State_AT)the auricular acupuncture intervention.Coupling strength was used to quantitatively evaluate the strength of the couplings between ABP andΔ[O2Hb]in low-frequency oscillations(LF,0.07–0.2 Hz)and very-low-frequency oscillations(VLF,0.02–0.07 Hz).Results showed that the changes in wavelet amplitudes in the LF and VLF intervals did not exhibit significant differences after auricular acupuncture.The coupling strength from ABP toΔ[O2Hb]was significantly lower in the LF range after auricular acupuncture in the bilateral PFC,SMC,and TLC(p<0.0083).Additionally,the coupling strength from ABP toΔ[O2Hb]in the VLF range was significantly lower in the bilateral PFC in State_AT than in State_R(p<0.0083).These results indicated that fNIRS together with ABP can effectively evaluate cerebral hemodynamic responses to interventions and is therefore capable of guiding more individualized acupuncture strategies.The auricular acupuncture intervention improved hemodynamic responses in patients suffering from hypertension.

经皮耳迷走神经刺激治疗功能性消化不良:随机对照试验

Objectives:To observe the clinical long-term therapeutic effect on functional dyspepsia(FD) in the comparative study of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation(taVNS) with transcutaneous auricular none-vagus nerve stimulation(tnVNS).Methods:A total of 90 FD patients were randomized into a taVNS group and a tnVNS group,45 cases in each one.The patients in both the taNVS group and the tnVNS group were treated 5 times a week,30 min each time,for 4 weeks totally.Before treatment,after treatment and in follow-up visit,overall symptom points,functional dyspepsia-related quality of life questionnaire(FDQOL),Hamilton anxiety scale(HAMA),Hamilton depression scale(HAMD) and self-rating depression scale(SDS) were adopted to evaluate the severity of the symptoms and observe the clinical therapeutic effect of patients.Results:Compared with the scores before treatment,the overall symptom points,FDDQL,HAMA,HAMD and SDS at each time point after treatment were all lower in the patients of the taVNS group.The scores of FDDQL after treatment were almost all higher than that before treatment in the self-comparison of each group.All of the above differences were significant statistically(all P <0.05).Compared with the tnVNS group,the overall symptom points,FDDQL, HAMA,HAMD and SDS at each time point after treatment were all lower in the taVNS group and the score of FDDQL was higher,indicating the statistical differences(all P<0.05).Conclusion:Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation is applicable for the treatment of functional dyspepsia.Compared with the control group,taVNS obtains a better long-term effect.

耳甲电针对冷应激大鼠脂蛋白代谢的调节作用

Objective:To explore whether auricular concha eletroacupuncture(ACEA)is effective in regulating lipidlipoprotein metabolism in rats submitted to cold stress.Methods:Thirty-six adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were placed in four groups(9 rats in each group),the rats in three groups of which were submitted to cold stress for fourteen days,the last one of which was a control group.After the cold stress process,in those three groups,the rats of one group were with no treatment(stress only),two were treated with either ACEA or auricular margin eletroacupuncture(AMEA)repeated for fourteen days.On the 14th day,all the rats were sacrificed after all experimental procedure for blood sampling.Blood glucose,triglycerides(TG),total cholesterol(TC),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C)and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)levels were tested by using the collected serum.Plasma lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase(LCAT)was measured with ELISA kit.Results:ACEA down-regulated the TG level(P<0.05)and LDL-C level(P<0.05),and up-regulated HDL-C level(P<0.05)and LACT level(P<0.05).AMEA did not regulate the bio-markers.Conclusion:ACEA played an important role in regulating lipid-lipoprotein metabolism in rats submitted to cold stress.

Clinical application rules of different micro needle system therapy

Different micro needle system therapies have different advantages and characteristics.However,at present,the dominant diseases for which each therapy is appropriate are positioned relatively vaguely,and even the acupoint selections for the same disease are different.The clinical application of the dominant disease and application characteristics of each micro needle system therapy is a scientific problem that needs to be explored urgently.Based on the previous data mining study of the clinical application of auricular acupuncture,scalp acupuncture,abdominal acupuncture,eye acupuncture,wrist-ankle acupuncture,hand acupuncture,the second metacarpal bone lateral needling,facial acupuncture,mouth acupuncture and nose acupuncture,the diseases reported more in the clinical literature of each therapy were extracted to find out the same symptoms applicable to different micro needle systems.The clinical application and differences of different micro needle systems for the same disease were compared horizontally,and it demonstrated that the second metacarpal bone lateral needling,facial needle,mouth acupuncture and nose acupuncture were biased towards a partial corresponding therapeutic relationship between one part and the other part,and the eye acupuncture was biased to interfere with the whole by adjusting the function of the organs,and the auricular,scalp and abdominal needles had the both characteristics,and the wrist-malleolus acupuncture and hand acupuncture were often used in various disorders of the meridian-collateral level.The differences were researched and summarized to more accurately guide clinicians in the application of different micro needle system therapies.