Electro‐Acupuncture in Relieving Labor Pain

Abstract

To study the efficacy of electro-acupuncture for the relief of labor pain, and to build a better understanding of how electro-acupuncture might influence the neuroendocrine system, 36 primiparas were randomly divided into an electro-acupuncture group and a control group. Assessments of pain intensity and degree of relaxation during labor were analyzed. The differences between the electro-acupuncture group and the control group on the concentration of β-endorphin (β-EP) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in the peripheral blood were compared. The electro-acupuncture group was found to exhibit a lower pain intensity and a better degree of relaxation than the control group (p = 0.018; p = 0.031). There existed a significant difference in the concentration of β-EP and 5-HT in the peripheral blood between the two groups at the end of the first stage (p = 0.037; p = 0.030). Electro-acupuncture was found to be an effective alternative or complementary therapy in the relief of pain during labor. The benefit of electro-acupuncture for relieving labor pain may be based on the mechanism of producing a synergism of the central nervous system (CNS) with a direct impact on the uterus through increasing the release of β-EP and 5-HT into the peripheral blood.

Effects of acupuncture for pain in pregnant women

“…Nous ignorons si l'acupuncture agit directement sur la douleur ou par un effet placebo. Des données neurophysiologiques sont en faveur d'un effet biologique quantifiable de l'acupuncture [27]. L'effet placebo pourrait être lié par exemple à l'impact psychologique d'un traitement personnalisé avec actes de soins répétés [25].…”

Design and Rationale of a Comparative Effectiveness Study to Evaluate Two Acupuncture Methods for the Treatment of Headaches Associated with Traumatic Brain Injury

“…39 Recent blinded, randomly controlled studies, moreover, support the efficacy of acupuncture for treating pain associated with headache, fibromyalgia, knee arthroscopy, 40 labor, and other painful conditions in both humans and animals. [41][42][43] Acupuncture has proven to be efficacious for treating a number of conditions, with the potential to reduce trauma spectrum symptomatology in patients with TBI. In fact, not only has acupuncture shown promise for the care and prevention of migraine, tension-type and chronic daily headaches, [44][45][46] but also for the treatment of most of the components of wrTSR dysfunctions including insomnia, 47-53 stress and anxiety, [54][55][56] and depression, 57-64 as well as perceived, 65 chronic, [66][67][68] and acute pain.…”

Acupuncture for Inpatients in General Hospitals – Special Features of this Service

“…Acupuncture can be used for back pain, pubalgia, ciatalgia, pelvic pain, without risk to the fetus. During the birth, acupuncture promotes smaller pain, higher relaxation, higher seric endorfine and triptamine concentration [QU et al 2007]. Acupuncture during the birth reduced the need of painkillers and had high rate of satisfaction of patients [Neisheim et al 2003].…”