Traditional Acupuncture Session:Patients in this group will benefit from a 30 minutes acupuncture session made by an experimented physician.

Morphine Titration:Patients will receive an intravenous titration of morphine by a qualified nurse.

Skin disinfection was made by an antiseptic solution in the sites of insertion and sterile acupuncture needles were used (0.25 x 0.5 mm).

Patients were installed in a seated position and needles were inserted perpendicularly through the skin to a depth of 1 - 2 cm until the "De Qi" was achieved.

The "DeQi" corresponds to a feeling of numbness and tingling within the range of acupoint, The insertion sites are represented by the urinary bladder meridian points to the side of the pain (UB21, UB22, UB23, UB24, UB26, UB45, UB46, UB47, UB48 and UB49).

Pain score is measured by a 100 millimeter visual analogue scale (VAS) and corresponds to the severity of the pain felt by the patient and varying from 0 (corresponding to no pain) to 100 (corresponding to the maximum imaginable pain).

Corresponds to the occurence of side effects related to the intervention. Side effects occurence is evaluated via a checklist for each study group and the degree of amputability is evaluated via a 3 point likert scale (1: not probable, 2: probable and 3 : very probable / almost certain).

In the morphine group we followed patients for the occurence of drowsiness, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, respiratory distress and hypotension.

In the acupuncture group we followed patients for the occurence of local rush / bleeding / itching, needle blockage and fainting