Electroacupuncture Anesthesia for Nasal Sinus Surgery and Mammaplasty

Primary Outcome Measures:

• the mean infusion rate of intraoperative remifentanil and propofol [ Time Frame: during operation ]
  To investigate the operative time and total volume of remifentanil and propofol used during operation, and then calculate the mean infusion rate. To assess whether intraoperative requirements for anesthetic drugs could be reduced by EA pretreatment.
  
  

Secondary Outcome Measures:

• Visual analogue scale [ Time Frame: post-operative 4h, 8h, 24h and 48h ]
  To assess whether EA pretreatment could help in alleviating acute post-operative pain.
  
  
• Extubation time [ Time Frame: postoperation ]
  To investigate the time from the end of propofol and remifentanil infusion to extubation. To assess whether EA pretreatment could shorten the extubation time.
  
  

Other Outcome Measures:

• plasma β-endorphin and cortisol concentration [ Time Frame: preoperation, 0h and 24h postoperation ]
  To assess whether EA pretreatment could increase the plasma levels of β-endorphin and cortisol.
  
  
• Ramsay score [ Time Frame: post-operative 4h, 8h, 24h, 48h ]
  To assess the effect of EA pretreatment on post-operative Ramsay scores.
  
  
• incidence of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) [ Time Frame: within post-operative 24 hours ]
  To assess the effect of EA pretreatment on PONV.
  
  

Acupuncture therapy has been proved helpful in the patients suffering from various pain problems. And it is reported to be able to reduce the intraoperative anesthetic requirement. However, so far there is few evidence from randomized controlled studies to confirm the assistant anesthetic effect of acupuncture. Electroacupuncture (EA) is a modern non-invasive technique of traditional acupuncture. Compared to traditional acupuncture, EA is more practicable, more easily to be accepted by patients and operated by physicians. Nasal sinus surgery and mammaplasty, especially breast augmentation, mostly belong to the scope of day surgeries, which demand a rapid, smooth recovery from anesthesia with minimum adverse side effects (e.g.: pain, PONV, etc).