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The following is a summary of “Electroacupuncture Mechanisms in Managing Preoperative Anxiety and Postoperative Pain Chronification: A Review,” published in the December 2024 issue of Pain by Erasmus et al.
Postoperative hyperalgesic priming, worsened by preoperative anxiety, complicates pain management, and electroacupuncture (EA), combining traditional acupuncture with electrical stimulation, might offer a solution by targeting various neurobiological pathways.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to explore how EA alleviates preoperative anxiety-induced postoperative hyperalgesic priming, focusing on mechanisms in preoperative anxiety, postoperative hyperalgesia, and the interaction with EA.
They searched literature across PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar to identify studies on the effects of EA on neurobiological pathways related to anxiety and pain. The review synthesized the results from the studies to better understand the role of EA in addressing the processes.
The results showed that EA reduced preoperative anxiety by influencing neurochemical and neurophysiological responses, lowering inflammation, regulating stress hormones, and enhancing autonomic function. For postoperative pain chronification, EA modulated pain pathways, decreased inflammation, and affected receptor signaling, gene expression, and neurotransmitter systems.
Investigators concluded that EA showed promise in managing preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain by targeting both physiological and neurochemical pathways.
