Abstract
Background and Aims Combined acupuncture-drug anesthesia is an anesthesia modality that shows unique advantages in clinical surgical applications, as acupuncture and drugs work together to synergize the analgesic effect. The aim of this qualitative study was to qualitatively analyze patients' perceptions and experiences of perioperative acupuncture and combined acupuncture-drug anesthesia through interviews to provide ideas for future intervention development.
Methods We conducted qualitative interviews with 20 patients using combined acupuncture-drug anesthesia at the surgical inpatients of Yueyang Hospital of Integrative Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, to understand the attitudes, feelings, and perceptions of surgical patients toward acupuncture with combined acupuncture-drug anesthesia before, during, and after surgery. We used to collect data using face-to-face, semi-structured, individualized in-depth interviews, and analyzed the interview data using Nvivo 12.0 software to summarize and refine the content from specifics to units and themes step by step.
Results Surgical patients have positively evaluated combined acupuncture-drug anesthesia, despite having varying attitudes and perceptions about perioperative acupuncture. They reported feeling that the overall surgical experience with this method was safe and effective, with many experiencing positive responses during and after the procedure. The acceptance of acupuncture among patients was notably high, given its longstanding tradition and continued usage in China. However, the results also revealed certain areas that require improvement. Specifically, the preoperative education on combined acupuncture-drug anesthesia was found to be inadequate. Additionally, the potential benefits of preoperative acupuncture were not fully realized, and there was a lack of follow-up regarding acupuncture for postoperative responses. These findings suggest that there is still much room for improvement in various aspects of the perioperative acupuncture process.
Conclusions The perioperative model associated with perioperative acupuncture in this study both gained patient acceptance and allowed the exposure of many deficiencies in scientific education about combined acupuncture-drug anesthesia and follow-up of perioperative acupuncture. We accordingly propose a process for perioperative acupuncture in the hope that it will provide ideas for combined acupuncture-drug anesthesia with perioperative acupuncture in the future.