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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access first published online on April 22, 2004
This version published online on May 5, 2004
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/deh229
© 2004 by European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
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Received January 15, 2004
Accepted February 2, 2004

Article

Pain relief during oocyte retrieval with a new short duration electro-acupuncture technique--an alternative to conventional analgesic methods

Peter Humaidan 1 Elisabet Stener-Victorin 2*

1 The Fertility Clinic, Skive Sygehus, DK 7800 Skive, Denmark
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Department of Physiology and Institute of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, Box 455, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: elsv{at}fhs.gu.se.


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture previously has proved its pain-relieving effect for ovum pick-up (OPU). The analgesic effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) was evaluated when EA was applied for only a few minutes prior to OPU in an attempt to make EA more attractive for clinical use. METHODS: Two hundred patients undergoing OPU were randomized prospectively using sealed, unlabelled envelopes, to receive pain relief with either EA in combination with a paracervical block (PCB) (n = 100) or conventional medical analgesia (CMA) in combination with a PCB (n = 100). A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate pain and anxiety before, during and after OPU. The primary outcome measure was pain relief; secondary end-points were costs, time to discharge and clinical outcome parameters. RESULTS: There were no differences in any VAS ratings before the procedure. Directly after OPU, the EA group reported significantly higher mean and maximum pain, and ‘pain now’ than the CMA group. At 30 min after OPU and thereafter, no significant differences were found between the groups regarding abdominal pain. Time to discharge and costs were significantly lower in the EA group compared with the CMA group. No differences in clinical outcome parameters were seen. CONCLUSION: A significant difference was found between the EA and the CMA groups regarding pain during the OPU, probably due to the fact that the CMA group was pre-medicated as part of the study design. Despite a per-operative difference in pain rating, EA, given a few minutes prior to OPU, is a good alternative to CMA. The procedure is well tolerated by the patients, with a shorter hospitalization time and lower costs.

Key words: analgesia/electro-acupuncture/IVF/ovum pick-up/pain relief


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