Acta Physiol Scand. 1989 Apr; 135(4): 555-8.

Increased survival of ischaemic musculocutaneous flaps in rats after acupuncture.

Jansen G, Lundeberg T, Samuelson UE, Thomas M.

Department of Physiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

The effects of acupuncture on survival of ischaemic musculocutaneous flaps were investigated in the rat. A dorsal cranially based standard flap (2 X 7 cm) was elevated and sutured back in position. The percentage survival of the flaps was estimated after 6 days. Manual acupuncture, electro-acupuncture but not superficial acupuncture significantly increased the survival of the flaps compared to untreated controls. The highest flap survival (92%) was obtained with repeated post-operative high-intensity electro-acupuncture. It is concluded that acupuncture treatment markedly increases experimental flap survival and may be of clinical importance for treatment of local ischaemia.