"Acupuncture anesthesia"--a clinical study.

Forty-two patients who were to undergo plastic surgical procedures were asked whether they would accept acupuncture as a substitute for local anesthesia. Eight patients agreed to acupuncture; one of these had 2 operative procedures with acupuncture. Five of the 9 procedures were successful; the remaining 4 required conversion to local anesthesia. After interviewing the patients, we felt that the success of "acupuncture anesthesia" was largely dependent on patient motivation, and that a patient may experience pain during surgical procedures without any change in facial expression or vital signs. We concluded that "acupuncture anesthesia" is of little value in our patient population at present. Its results are unpredictable; therefore, we anticipate that patient acceptance will be small.