Wrist–Ankle Acupuncture as Additional Therapy for Postoperative Multimodal Analgesia in Orthopedic Surgery: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Abstract Background The present meta-analysis analyzed the efficacy and safety of wrist–ankle acupuncture (WAA) as an additional therapy for postoperative multimodal analgesia after orthopedic surgery. Methods Electronic databases, including Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, CNKI, SinoMed, Wanfang, and VIP, were searched to identify randomized controlled trials and cohort studies that reported details of WAA as an additional therapy for postoperative multiple analgesia in orthopedic surgery before October 1, 2021. Analyzed outcomes included time points of the visual analog scale, use of patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA), and postoperative adverse events. Subgroup analysis was performed according to time points and complication type. Results Eleven randomized controlled trials and one cohort study were included in the meta-analysis. Among a total of 845 patients, there were 422 patients in the WAA groups and 423 patients in the control groups. The WAA groups showed a better analgesic effect (standard mean difference [SMD] = −1.34; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −1.76 to −0.91; P < 0.00001; I2 = 0.94), lower use of PCIA (SMD = −1.48; 95% CI: −2.26 to −0.69; P = 0.0002; I2 = 0.94), and lower occurrence of postoperative adverse events (risk ratio = 0.38; 95% CI: 0.30 to 0.49; P < 0.00001; I2 = 0) than did the control groups. Conclusion WAA as an additional therapy for postoperative multimodal analgesia in orthopedic surgery showed advantages over control treatment in terms of pain relief, use of PCIA, and occurrence of postoperative adverse events.