Lijec Vjesn. 1991 Sep-Oct; 113(9-10): 327-32.

[Acupuncture and neuroleptanalgesia]

GaloiÄ-Krleza R.

Zavod za anesteziologiju i intenzivno lijecenje, Klinicka bolnica Sestre milosrdnice, Zagreb.

In search of an anesthetic technique which would inhibit response to surgery stress, we tried to obtain a new method by a combination of a commonly used neuroleptanalgesia (NLA) and a traditional Chinese acupuncture, in which by increasing the level of endogenic opioid peptides we would decrease the need for exogenic opiates and thus influence the body response to surgery. The effect of this combined use of NLA and acupuncture was evaluated on the hyperglykemia, cortisol and aldosterone response during pre, intra and postoperative period, fentanyl and dehydrobenzperidol (DHBP) requirements, and its postoperative analgetic and antiemetic efficacy. The patient population comprised 40 metabolically healthy patients randomly divided into experimental and control group. Using the analysis with t-test we have demonstrated that acupuncture, as and adjuvant to NLA, significantly suppresses the hyperglykemia and cortisol response to surgery stress, while it does not influence the aldosterone mechanism and, it significantly reduces fentanyl and DHBP requirements. With chi 2-test we have shown a significant decrease in postoperative vomiting and pain, and as a result of this, a reduction of analgesic requirements. In summary, a combination of neuroleptanalgesia and acupuncture can be recommended as a technique which significantly supresses the response to surgery stress (intraoperative hyperglykemia and hypercortisolism) and can be easily applied in the majority of surgical procedures.