Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture(EA)stimulation of bilateral Taichong(LR 3)

Yanglingquan(GB 34)

Waiguan(TE 5)and Chize(LU 5)on pain and post-surgical gastrointestinal reactions in patients undergoing pneumectomy.Methods Sixty patients with pneumectomy were randomly divided into EA group(30cases)and control group(30cases).For patients of the EA group

EA stimulation(2Hz

3-5mA)was applied to bilateral LR 3

GB 34

TE 5and LU 5once every 12 hin the following two days after the surgery.For patients of the control group

the filiform needles were just adhered to the abovementioned acupoints without electrical stimulation.In addition

patients of both groups were treated first with lower dose of anesthetics including Fentanyl(250μg)+Flurbiprofen axetil(25mg)+normal saline(i.v.

2mL/h)

and Sauteralgyl(muscular injection if necessary).The visual analogue scale(VAS)was used for measuring the patients' pain reaction at24 th h and 48 th h after surgery.The contents of plasmaβ-endorphine(EP)and leu-enkephalin were assayed by ELISA

the times of vomiting and nausea

and the time of postoperative exhaust and defecation were recorded.Results Compared with the control group

the VAS score at 48 hafter surgery

and the dosage of the supplemented Sauteralgyl were evidently lower

and the time of both exhaust and defecation after surgery was significantly earlier

and the degree of nausea after surgery was obviously milder in patients of the EA group(P<0.05

P<0.01).Compared with 0hpost-operation

theβ-endorphin and leu-enkephalin levels were significantly increased in the EA group(P<0.01).No significant difference was found between the control and EA groups in the vomiting rating(P>0.05).Conclusion EA intervention combined with anesthetics is effective in reducing the dosage of the supplemented Sauteralgyl and the degree of postoperative nausea

and in improving postoperative gastrointestinal functional recovery in patients undergoing pneumectomy.