Acupuncture Anesthesia A Case Report

Abstract

To the Editor.— Acupuncture anesthesia for surgery, as a recent development in China from the ancient art of acupuncture, has caught the attention and piqued the curiosity of physicians and laymen in this country since the visit of American physicians to mainland China last year. Being an anesthesiologist with some understanding of Chinese traditional medicine, I have studied books on acupuncture, particularly those published in the past few years. They are mostly in Chinese and can be obtained in Hong Kong. Together with the information from Dimond1and Rosen, (Hospital Tribune, April 3, 1972), they gave me some idea of applying acupuncture for surgical anesthesia. Acupuncture has its own system and theory of body control, physiology, and pathology, which is incomprehensible to western physicians. Different points on certain meridians control certain organs or areas for certain diseases or pain. If the insertion of needles at proper points can control