Uterine Artery Embolization under Electroacupuncture for Uterine Leiomyomas
Received 5 October 2008; received in revised form 20 February 2009; accepted 20 March 2009.
Purpose
To evaluate whether electroacupuncture is a safe and effective alternative to pharmacologic sedation/analgesia in uterine artery embolization (UAE) for leiomyomas.
Materials and Methods
A nonrandomized prospective study was undertaken in 70 consecutive patients (mean age, 39.5 years) undergoing UAE with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles between August 2006 and January 2007. Thirty-three patients chose to undergo UAE under electroacupuncture anesthesia (EAA; group A) and 37 were treated under local pharmacologic anesthesia (group B). Pain scores (rated from 0 to 10) in both groups were compared during and after the procedure. The outcome of UAE was evaluated at 6 months.
Results
Mean pain scores during embolization were 0.36 in group A and 0.84 in group B; scores after embolization and before discharge were 3.00 in group A and 4.49 in group B; and scores at discharge were 0.97 in group A and 2.11 in group B. These differences were statistically significant after embolization and at hospital discharge (P= .02 and P= .0001, respectively). All patients except one in each group were discharged from the hospital 4–8 hours after UAE; the two who remained longer had severe pain. There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes, nor in uterine and leiomyoma volumes, at discharge and at 6 months (P > 0.99 and P= .72, respectively).
Conclusions
There was a statistically significant postembolization pain reduction in patients treated under EAA versus local pharmacologic anesthesia and no differences in UAE outcomes between groups at 6 months.
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