| Category |
Anesthesiology |
| Manuscript Type |
Minireviews |
| Article Title |
Acupuncture-assisted anesthesia in surgical procedures: A comprehensive review of operational methods, technical details, ear and body acupoints application
|
| Manuscript Source |
Invited Manuscript |
| All Author List |
Meng-Ying Zhao, Cong-Yi Xie, En-He Zhao, Zi-Mu Li, Jing-Yan Pan, Wei-Qian Wang, Guo-Wei Zhou, Guan-Hu Yang, Bin Xu, Yun Liu and Tian-Cheng Xu |
| Funding Agency and Grant Number |
| Funding Agency |
Grant Number |
| National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Science Fund Project |
82305376 |
| Young Talent Support Program of the China Association for Acupuncture-Moxibustion |
2024-2026ZGZJXH-QNRC005 |
| 2024 Jiangsu Provincial Young Scientific and Technological Talent Support Program |
JSTJ-2024-380 |
| Talent Cultivation Program for Young Researchers, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education Project |
zyqt202501 and zyqt202503 |
|
| Corresponding Author |
Tian-Cheng Xu, Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Medicine Research of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 138 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia District, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu Province, China. xtc24203@163.com |
| Key Words |
Acupuncture-assisted anesthesia; Intraoperative analgesia; Electroacupuncture parameters; Neuroendocrine-immune mechanism; Acupoint specificity |
| Core Tip |
Analgesia, sedation, and organ protection are provided during surgery via acupuncture-assisted anesthesia, which combines traditional acupuncture with contemporary anesthesiology. Standardized procedures for body points (LI4, ST36, PC6) and auricular points (TF4, surgical site reflex zones) across different surgeries are described in this review, with a focus on surgical site-specific tactics. Acupuncture-assisted anesthesia works by coordinating neuroendocrine-immune control, which includes immunomodulation, vagal reflexes, endogenous opioid release, and peripheral afferent activation. The review also examines how there are still issues, such as methodological limitations and the lack of standardized protocols, even if clinical benefits like lower anesthetic usage and fewer complications are now quite obvious. Its integration into contemporary anesthesia will be strengthened by upcoming multicenter trials and multi-omics research. |
| Citation |
Zhao MY, Xie CY, Zhao EH, Li ZM, Pan JY, Wang WQ, Zhou GW, Yang GH, Xu B, Liu Y, Xu TC. Acupuncture-assisted anesthesia in surgical procedures: A comprehensive review of operational methods, technical details, ear and body acupoints application. World J Transl Med 2026; In press
|
| PDF |
124320-in-press.pdf
|
| ISSN |
2220-6132 (online) |
| Open Access |
This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
| Copyright |
©Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See Permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. |
| Permissions |
For details, please visit: http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/207
|
| Publisher |
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA |
| Website |
http://www.wjgnet.com |
