Minerva Med. 1981 Sep; 72(33): 2209-14.

[Spectrum analysis of the electroencephalogram during electrohypoalgesia (combined with electroacupuncture) and pharmacological anesthesia]

Caracausi SR, Lorenzini R, Pilloni C, Tognali F, Sciaretta G.

Cerebral function has been monitored by means of the spectral analysis of EEG during general pharmacological anaesthesia and during electrohypoalgesia (auriculoacupuncture) in patients subjected to chest and heart surgery. The results have shown that during electrohypoalgesia, waking or subvigilance frequencies predominate, an aspect that is quite different from those recorded in patients subjected to general pharmacological anaesthesia. It is therefore demonstrated that electrohypoalgesia is useful for surgery and saves the patient from pharmacological aggression which, while on the one hand suppressing the state of awareness, along with its analgesic and neurovegetative protection action, is not free from risks and undesirable side-effects, particularly in high risk patients. The usefulness, harmlessness and simplicity of the method as an alternative to other anaesthesiological schedules is confirmed.