In clinical practice, acupuncture anesthesia presents a multitude of advantages, pivotal among these being Body System Protection. This technique supports the body's natural defenses, reducing the physiological stress often associated with surgical procedures. By modulating the body's response to pain, acupuncture anesthesia allows for a lower Dosage of Medication, significantly reducing the potential for drug-related side effects. Furthermore, this approach plays a crucial role in Emotion Regulation, helping patients maintain a calm and stable emotional state, which is essential for a positive surgical outcome. The impact of acupuncture on the nervous system not only aids in Pain Relief but also promotes Enhanced Recovery After Surgery. Patients tend to experience faster recuperation times, attributed to the holistic nature of this method. Additionally, acupuncture anesthesia is associated with a Lower Incidence of Side Effects compared to conventional anesthetics. Its ability to modulate and balance the body's responses makes it an invaluable tool in the realm of modern medicine, offering a safer, more patient-centered approach to pain management and recovery.

           
Body System Protection
Brain Protection
Acupuncture anesthesia plays a vital role in brain surgeries, ensuring precise and safe anesthesia, reducing the risk of neurological complications, and supporting optimal cognitive function.
Lung Protection
Acupuncture anesthesia reduces post-operative lung complications, aiding in rapid lung function recovery, particularly beneficial for lung surgeries.
Neuroprotection
Acupuncture anesthesia is crucial for safeguarding the nervous system, reducing nerve injuries, and preventing the progression of neurological disorders.
Kidney
Acupuncture anesthesia alleviates stress on the kidneys, reducing the risk of kidney injury, particularly valuable in kidney surgeries.
Gastrointestinal Tract
Acupuncture anesthesia supports gastrointestinal health, reducing the risk of post-operative digestive issues, and ensuring a smoother recovery.
Cardiovascular
Acupuncture anesthesia eases the cardiovascular system's burden, reducing the risk of cardiovascular complications, especially in cardiac surgeries.
Myocardium
Acupuncture anesthesia aids in protecting the myocardium, minimizing adverse effects on heart muscle, ensuring cardiac health.
Cognitive Function
Through emotional stability and neuroprotection, acupuncture anesthesia helps preserve cognitive function, reducing the risk of post-operative cognitive impairment.
Motor Function
Acupuncture anesthesia improves motor function, aiding in post-operative mobility, and enhancing overall quality of life.
Language Function
Acupuncture anesthesia supports language function rehabilitation, assisting patients in regaining their communication skills.
Learning and Memory Ability
Acupuncture anesthesia, by reducing post-operative pain and emotional instability, enhances learning and memory ability, promoting a speedy recovery.

Acupuncture anesthesia for Body System Protection-Brain Protection


PMID Evidence Source Keyword Type
32148660 Regardless of the results of cognitive assessment tests, which are more susceptible to bias, the observed reductions in inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, as well as neuronal injury markers, provide solid evidence that acupuncture may protect the brain during surgery. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2020 Feb 13;2020:9641904. doi: 10.1155/2020/9641904. eCollection 2020. Brain Protection Review
34060024 This article summarizes the cellular and animal experimental mechanisms of CM treatment on PTSD, suggesting that traditional Chinese herbs and acupuncture can protect brain functional areas, and adjust hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. Chin J Integr Med. 2021 Nov;27(11):874-880. doi: 10.1007/s11655-021-2864-1. Epub 2021 May 31. Brain Protection Review
34437474 Moreover, acupuncture can exert brain-protective effects by regulating microglia. Vet Sci. 2021 Jul 30;8(8):149. doi: 10.3390/vetsci8080149. Brain Protection Review
35233354 Thus, acupuncture has brain-protective effect on rats with focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Tzu Chi Med J. 2021 Apr 19;34(1):35-43. doi: 10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_275_20. eCollection 2022 Jan-Mar. Brain Protection Review
36313493 Acupuncture therapies were used alone or combined with conventional therapy (CT, including recanalization treatments, controlling vascular risk factors, improving blood circulation, and protecting brain cells). Front Neurol. 2022 Oct 13;13:1005819. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.1005819. eCollection 2022. Brain Protection Circulation Review
37091130 Acupuncture treatment can antagonize hippocampal nerve cell apoptosis, reduce the degree of damage to secondary nerve cells, and promote the repair of damaged neurons, thus reducing ischemia and reperfusion injury, protecting brain tissue, and improving brain function. Behav Neurol. 2023 Apr 12;2023:9445381. doi: 10.1155/2023/9445381. eCollection 2023. Brain Protection Review
37397457 These results suggested that acupuncture has potential therapeutic and brain-protective effects and may be helpful for treating PSCI. Front Neurosci. 2023 Jun 15;17:1211044. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1211044. eCollection 2023. Brain Protection Review
36156370 Acupuncture stimulation can protect the brain against caffeine-induced sleep disruption. Biomed Pharmacother. 2022 Nov;155:113724. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113724. Epub 2022 Sep 23. Brain Protection Mechanism
24828425 For this reason, agents that protect the brain from edema by interfering with BBB are under pursuit by many researchers. PLoS One. 2014 May 14;9(5):e97488. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097488. eCollection 2014. Brain Protection Mechanism
19756387 There is, however, no promising strategy against such pathophysiological changes to protect the brain from hypoxic/ischemic injury. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2009 Nov;66(21):3505-16. doi: 10.1007/s00018-009-0136-x. Brain Protection Mechanism
19756387 It has been well recognized that hypoxic/ischemic disruption of ionic homeostasis, especially massive Na+ influx and K+ leakage, is a critical trigger of neuronal injury/death in the brain, there is, however, no promising strategy against such pathophysiological changes to protect the brain from hypoxic/ischemic injury. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2009 Nov;66(21):3505-16. doi: 10.1007/s00018-009-0136-x. Brain Protection Mechanism
19756387 Since Na+ channels are the major route of Na+ entry into neurons, our preliminary observations prompt us to raise an interesting question: Does DOR regulate Na+ channel function and thus protect the brain from anoxic disruption of Na+-K+ homeostasis? Cell Mol Life Sci. 2009 Nov;66(21):3505-16. doi: 10.1007/s00018-009-0136-x. Brain Protection Mechanism
19756387 More interestingly, our recent work suggests that electroacupuncture may protect the brain from ischemic injury via the DOR system (Zhao et al, 2002 SfN Abstract). Cell Mol Life Sci. 2009 Nov;66(21):3505-16. doi: 10.1007/s00018-009-0136-x. Brain Protection Mechanism
25206406 Electroacupuncture has been shown to block the procession of necrosis and apoptosis in neuronal cells when cerebral ischemia-reperfusion occurs by resisting oxidative stress injury and protecting brain tissue. Neural Regen Res. 2013 Apr 25;8(12):1122-31. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.12.007. Brain Protection Mechanism
25206406 Lu et al have shown that electroacupuncture could improve neurobehavioral scores, reduce the number of necrotic neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region, and protect the brain in mice. Neural Regen Res. 2013 Apr 25;8(12):1122-31. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.12.007. Brain Protection Mechanism
34630618 EA ameliorated the production of excessive proinflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus of rats with cognitive dysfunction secondary to hepatic encephalopathy, which also gave rise to subsequent changes such as reduced blood ammonia level, brain-protective activated astrocytes, and lower degree of brain tissue injury. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Oct 1;2021:7992688. doi: 10.1155/2021/7992688. eCollection 2021. Brain Protection Cognitive Function Mechanism
25861363 As we all know, apoptosis-related genes are induced after focal ischemia, and they may contribute to cell death in the core and the selective cell death adjacent to an infarct, whereas heat shock proteins have been shown to play an important protective role in vivo as they have the ability to protect cultured cells from apoptosis and thus to protect brain against ischaemia. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:496932. doi: 10.1155/2015/496932. Epub 2015 Mar 10. Brain Protection Mechanism
29853959 Several studies have shown that the PPP is upregulated when the brain is subjected to abnormal oxidative stress, and the PPP may play a role of protecting brain against oxidative stress in neurological diseases by reducing the amounts of ROS. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018 Apr 26;2018:5712857. doi: 10.1155/2018/5712857. eCollection 2018. Brain Protection Mechanism
28357997 Acupuncture ameliorated changes in expression of apoptotic factors in the brain induced by acute cerebral hemorrhage and may thus protect the brain, with greater efficacy when the delay before acupuncture was minimized. Med Sci Monit. 2017 Mar 30;23:1522-1532. doi: 10.12659/msm.897689. Brain Protection Bleeding Mechanism
25206816 Results suggested that acupuncture at Baihui and Dazhui protected brain neurons against injury in rats with heroin relapse by promoting brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor expression. Neural Regen Res. 2014 Feb 1;9(3):301-7. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.128228. Brain Protection Mechanism
25120577 As evidences given by recently extensive reports, the beneficial effects of acupuncture on brain ischemic damage in vivo or in vitro mainly focus on microcirculation, anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammation, neuron protection, brain metabolism. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:962343. doi: 10.1155/2014/962343. Epub 2014 Jul 10. Brain Protection Neuroprotection Microcirculation Mechanism
35321503 Notably, no significant increases of TCF4 and cyclin D1 were observed, suggesting that the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway caused by cerebral IR injury was insufficient to protect brain tissues from cerebral IR injury. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Mar 14;2022:1649605. doi: 10.1155/2022/1649605. eCollection 2022. Brain Protection Mechanism
35321503 All these results provided the experimental evidence and the novel molecular targets of scalp electroacupuncture on Baihui, which reinforced that the early application of scalp electroacupuncture might protect the brain tissues from cerebral IR injury. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Mar 14;2022:1649605. doi: 10.1155/2022/1649605. eCollection 2022. Brain Protection Mechanism