A large number of clinical trials and animal experiments have been carried out to focus on neurochemical mec-hanisms of acupuncture analgesia including postoperation pain relief

which may provide guidance for developing a novel clinical approach for postoperative analgesia.In the present paper

the authors review new progresses of researches on acupuncture analgesia for postoperative pain and side effects in the past few years from thyroidectomy

chest surgery

abdominal surgery

five sense organs(ear

nose

eye and throat) surgery

and others.Regarding the mechanism of acupuncture

central neurotransmitters(including the endop endorphin

5-HT

gamma-aminobutyric acid

etc.)

immune cytokines

cytokines from the spinal glia cells are complicated in the process of acupuncture analgesia.A lot of findings of researches demonstrated that acupuncture therapy is effective in reducing postoperative pain and adverse reactions as nausea

vomiting

etc.As a common technique widely used in the field of clinical medicine

the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for relieving post-surgery pain and side-effects should be studied profoundly in the future.