The Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis is seeing success treating emergency room patients with acupuncture.
The hospital became the first in America to add acupuncture into its ER program two years ago.
This was a way to reduce the amount of opioids administered to patients.
Since hired, acupuncturist Adam Reinstein has treated patients from car accident injuries and kidney stone pain.
“No matter what I’m treating them for, patients report feeling calmer, and less anxious” said Reinstein.
The Research
Titled “Acceptability, Adaptation, and Clinical Outcomes of Acupuncture Provided in the Emergency Department,” their paper was published in the Pain Medicine journal.
The paper presents encouraging findings to their pilot study.
Firstly, the goal was to evaluate how patients felt after acupuncture when admitted to the ER for pain and/or anxiety.
Secondly, 436 patients were involved. This concluded “acupuncture was effective for pain and anxiety reduction alongside medical care.”
Finally, the pair are pursuing a federal grant to conduct a larger, more definitive study with 750 patients.
Future Implications
Reinstein said that the goal of his research, isn’t to convince ER staff that Chinese medicine is ‘better’ than traditional approaches to healthcare.
“It’s not about Western medicine vs. Eastern medicine,” he said. “It’s not about the medicine.
It’s about, what can we do to make the patient feel better?”
Dr. Chris Kapsner, the medical director of Abbott’s ER, said the hospital’s decision to use of both is simple: it’s about saving lives.
Finally, “We’re aware of the epidemic of opioid use,” he said, “and we’re doing our best to be part of the solution.”
David L. Edwards is an author, Chinese medicine physician and acupuncturist. He is the author of The Body Fat Formula and The Pocketbook guide to Chinese medicine. David is the director of Barefoot Health and Wellness health programs.
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