AUTHOR=Liu Jie , Ding Longfei , Ma Wuhua , Wang Jiyong , Song Xiuling , Cao Ying , Wu Caineng 

TITLE=Effects of electroacupuncture on the incidence of postoperative supraventricular arrhythmia and sleep quality in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery: a randomized controlled trial

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1580759

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2025.1580759

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=BackgroundSupraventricular arrhythmia and sleep disturbance frequently occur after thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer. The present study is designed to evaluate the hypothesis that electroacupuncture is an effective treatment of supraventricular arrhythmia and sleep disorders following thoracoscopic lung cancer surgery.MethodsAdult patients scheduled for single-port thoracoscopic lung cancer surgery were randomly assigned to the Electroacupuncture (EA) and control groups. The primary outcome of this trial was the incidence of new-onset supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) including atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation, atrial tachycardia and atrioventricular junctional tachycardia during the first 24 h after surgery.ResultsThe authors analyzed 77 patients (EA, 38; control, 39). The incidence of new-onset SVT was significantly lower in the EA group compared with the control group during the first 24 postoperative hours; 4 (10.5%) vs. 13 (33.3%), respectively, p = 0.02. Patients in the EA group had longer total sleep time (119.0 vs. 209.5, p = 0.02), longer duration of nonrapid eye movement sleep on the first postoperative night (p < 0.05). The awake time was significantly shorter compared with the control group (134.5.0 vs. 225.0, p = 0.01). Dosage of remifentanil and incidence of intraoperative hypotension were significantly reduced in the EA group (911.1 vs. 1095.9, p = 0.01). However, VAS scores after surgery did not differ between groups. In all the patients recruited, adverse effects such as redness, swelling and inflammatory reactions were not observed at the acupuncture site.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that perioperative electroacupuncture treatment could be a promising strategy to reduce the incidence of new-onset SVT and improve sleep disturbance in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer. This potential impact on future treatments should inspire hope and optimism in the medical community.Clinical trial registrationhttps://www.chictr.org.cn/indexEN.html, identifier ChiCTR2300077984.