Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation for Opioid Consumption After Gastrointestinal Laparoscopic Surgery

Effect of Whole-process Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation on Opioid Consumption After Gastrointestinal Laparoscopic Surgery: a Prospective, Randomised, Blinded, Placebo-controlled Study

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effect of whole-process transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on opioid consumption after gastrointestinal laparoscopic surgery. All subjects received conventional multimodal analgesia. On this basis, the experimental group received whole-process transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation, while the control group received corresponding false stimulation.

Conventional multimodal analgesia protocols as follows：

1. Before the end of the operation, the surgical incision was infiltrated with 0.5% ropivacaine 10 mL locally.
2. Patients were transferred to the PACU and provided with patient-controlled intravenous analgesia with sufentanil for postoperative analgesia. The analgesia devices were set to a concentration of 1ug/mL, with a lockout interval of 15 minutes, and a 3 mL bolus，without an infusion dose. The pump was withdrawn 72h after surgery.
3. Flurbiprofen: 50mg per dose intravenously twice a day for postoperative three days.

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 18 years or older;
• scheduled for elective laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery；
• informed consent；
• American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Grades I-III；
• body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 kg/m2 and 28 kg/m2

Exclusion Criteria:

• local skin infection, incision or scar near the study acupoints;
• nerve damage in upper or lower limbs;
• participation in other clinical trials that influence the evaluation of the results of this study;
• inability to understand the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score or disagreeing with the use of patient controlled analgesia;
• presence of a pacemaker;
• patients with severe CNS diseases or severe mental disorders;
• operations requiring enterostomy or converts to laparotomy;
• patients who need to be transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) for treatment after surgery.