Application of acupuncture in the emergency department for patients with ileus: A pilot prospective cohort clinical study

Acupuncture can be conveniently used for pain control in patients with a variety of conditions, and it has obvious effects on various acute pains. In 2018, we implemented a program for emergency treatment with Chinese medicine to promote the integration of Chinese and Western medicine at the Emergency Department (ED). Ileus is a common cause of abdominal pain among patients in the ED, and it is an indication for emergency treatment with Chinese medicine. This study investigated the efficacy of acupuncture as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-based treatment method for the treatment of patients with ileus in the ED. We analyzed data of patients with ileus, who visited ED between January and December 2019, and compared the length of ED stay between the Western medicine group and the Western medicine plus acupuncture group. Furthermore, pain intensity was measured by a visual analogue scale before and after acupuncture. We found that the length of ED stay was 10.8 hours lesser in the Western medicine plus acupuncture group than in the Western medicine group (P = .04), and the visual analogue scale score decreased by 2.0 on average from before to after acupuncture treatment (P = .02). Acupuncture treatment was effective and rapid in relieving the symptoms and discomfort in patients with ileus and in reducing their length of stay in the ED.