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ACUPUNCTURE FOR ANXIETY / STRESS

Auricular Acupressure as a Treatment for Anxiety Before Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy in the Elderly

Purpose

Auricular acupuncture at the relaxation point has been shown to be effective treatment for anxiety. We hypothesized that auricular acupressure may decrease anxiety in elderly individuals who are transported by ambulance before receiving ESWL®.

Materials and Methods

We enrolled 100 patients with renal calculi who were transported to the local hospital by special ambulance, accompanied by 2 paramedics. Paramedic 1 performed data collection, while paramedic 2 performed auricular acupressure in patients randomly assigned to a relaxation group and a sham treated group. Anxiety was measured using a visual analog scale score on a scale of 0 to 100 mm.

Results

Each group consisted of 50 patients with similar demographic characteristics. The relaxation group had significantly decreased anxiety scores upon arrival at the hospital and lower anticipation of pain scores (mean ± SD 57.6 ± 21.8 to 15.4 ± 9.8 and 35.7 ± 29.7 to 9.5 ± 4.1 mm VAS) than the sham treated group (55.5 ± 25.9 to 49.8 ± 28.9 and 37.7 ± 24.1 to 33.8 ± 25.2 mm VAS, respectively, 2-way repeated measure ANOVA each p = 0.001). Estimated waiting times for treatment did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (5.0 ± 2.5 and 5.5 ± 2.95, respectively, repeated measures ANOVA p = 0.83). The Post-Intervention Anxiety visual analog scale demonstrated the significant superiority of the true treatment group (19.5 ± 5.9 and 66.8 ± 27.9 mm VAS, respectively, p = 0.001).

Conclusions

Elderly patients who received auricular acupressure at specific relaxation points while being transported to the hospital were:

· less anxious

· anticipated less pain

· were more optimistic about the outcome of treatment that they will receive than the sham treated group.

These data prove that this is an effective treatment for anxiety that improves the patient overall perception of ESWL.

Auricular acupuncture for dental anxiety: a randomized controlled trial.

Karst M, Winterhalter M, Münte S, Francki B, Hondronikos A, Eckardt A, Hoy L, Buhck H, Bernateck M, Fink M

Anesth Analg 2007; 104:295-300.

Abstract
Auricular acupuncture can be an effective treatment for acute anxiety, but there is a lack of direct comparisons of acupuncture to proven standard drug treatments. In this study we compared the efficacy of auricular acupuncture with intranasal midazolam, placebo acupuncture, and no treatment for reducing dental anxiety. Patients having dental extractions (n = 67) were randomized to (i) auricular acupuncture, (ii) placebo acupuncture, and (iii) intranasal midazolam and compared with a no treatment group.

Anxiety was assessed before the interventions, at 30 min, and after the dental extraction. Physiological variables were assessed continuously. With the no treatment group as control, the auricular acupuncture group, and the midazolam group were significantly less anxious at 30 min as compared with patients in the placebo acupuncture group (Spielberger Stait-Trait Anxiety Inventory X1, P = 0.012 and <0.001, respectively).

In addition, patient compliance assessed by the dentist was significantly improved if auricular acupuncture or application of intranasal midazolam had been performed (P = 0.032 and 0.049, respectively). In conclusion, both, auricular acupuncture and intranasal midazolam were similarly effective for the treatment of dental anxiety.

MeSH
Acupuncture Therapy; Acupuncture, Ear; Adult; Dental Anxiety; Female; Humans; Male; Midazolam; Middle Aged; Tooth Extraction

CAS Registry Number (Substance Name)
59467-70-8 (Midazolam)

Author Address
Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Clinic, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. karst.matthias@mh-hannover.de

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