Acupuncture in a pain clinic

Abstract

Acupuncture has been used in a pain clinic in various conditions of chronic pain not associated with malignancy. In a series of 111 patients who had not responded to conventional therapy, 34 showed marked improvement and a worthwhile effect was observed in another 44 patients. Patients were treated once or twice weekly for an average of ten treatments. Acupuncture produced an analgesic effect in 94 per cent of the cases. Sometimes a marked facilitation of neuromuscular function was also observed. On the basis of the material presented, painful musculo-skeletal disorders appear to respond satisfactorily to acupuncture and some response can also be expected in chronic headaches and in some neuralgias. The extent of usefulness of acupuncture for the management of these conditions should be established in controlled clinical studies. © 1974 Canadian Anesthesiologists.