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Sleep and Breathing
Published in: Sleep and Breathing 2/2021

01-06-2021 | Acupuncture | Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Review

The efficacy of acupuncture in postoperative sleep quality: a literature review

Authors: Bijia Song, Man Luo, Junchao Zhu

Published in: Sleep and Breathing | Issue 2/2021

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Abstract

Purpose

General anesthesia may affect the quality of postoperative sleep, especially after surgery on elderly patients. The decline of postoperative sleep quality may produce harmful effects on the postoperative recovery of patients. In this review, we summarized the efficacy and potential mechanism of acupuncture on postoperative sleep quality.

Methods

We review the effect of general anesthesia on circadian sleep rhythm. In addition, to provide evidence about the impairment of decreased postoperative sleep quality, we also emphasize the mechanism of acupuncture alleviates factors that affect sleep quality after general anesthesia.

Results

The application of acupuncture technology has been helpful to improve sleep quality and alleviate postoperative complications affecting postoperative sleep quality after general anesthesia.

Conclusion

Acupuncture at different acupoints could effectively improve body’s neurotransmitter levels and regulate biological clock genes through various mechanisms, and then improve postoperative sleep quality. Large-scale multi-center trials are needed to verify these findings.
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Metadata
Title
The efficacy of acupuncture in postoperative sleep quality: a literature review
Authors
Bijia Song
Man Luo
Junchao Zhu
Publication date
01-06-2021
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Sleep and Breathing / Issue 2/2021
Print ISSN: 1520-9512
Electronic ISSN: 1522-1709
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-020-02187-x

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