Overview
Acupuncture anaesthesia is based on the theory of meridian and Zangfu and clinical experience of acupuncture analgesia, which is a new type anesthesia method. Primarily using acupuncture point, and assisted with a small quantity of medicine to let the patient accept operation in the condition of consciousness. Acupuncture anaesthesia is an important ingredient of modern anesthesiology and acupuncture. There are about 30 kinds of operation with acupuncture anaesthesia having stable effects. Among them, achievement ratio of using acupuncture anaesthesia in operation of thyroid, cervical vertebra, anterior cranial fossa operation, pneumonectomy, tubal ligation of abdominal type, abdominal delivery, and tooth extraction may reach to over 80%.

Treatment
Hegu (LI4)
With routine sterilization, puncture perpendicularly at the depth of about 0.5-0.8 cun with 1 cun 28 gauge filiform needle, and use provocative maneuver of lifting, inserting, twirling, and rotating methods before operation to make the sense of needling upward, which is called preoperative induction of acupuncture anaesthesia. The purpose is to let the patient to adapt irritation of acupoint, stabilize emotion, and adjust function of organism to stimulate mechanism of analgesia and prepare for operation. Time of induction often lasts for 20-30 minutes, manipulating needle to maintain the sense of sourness, weight and distend, enhance curative effect to achieve paregoric purpose. Acupuncture anaesthesia in body acupuncture often uses the method of lifting, trusting, rotating and twirling. The frequency of rotating is generally at about 120 times / minute, and angle is among 90°-360°, while the amplitude of lifting and trusting should be within 10 ram. Electro-acupuncture anaesthesia can also be used, in which ectobatic pulsating current can traverse through the needle to stimuli the point to retain the needing sensation. Retain the needle during the operation, but stimulus intensity should be controlled nimbly. Stimulation should be lightly in operation, but can enhance the needling sensation in some sensitive position; in some step of lighter stimulation, manipulating needle can be paused or use electro-acupuncture anaesthesia to keep the needle. This point is often used in the operation of five sense organs, maxillofacial, and oral cavity.

Note
Acupuncture anesthesia procedure should be based on the toleration of patient and comfortable midst and powerful stimulation when using hand manoeuvring or electric acupuncture. Never use too powerful intensity, which will lead the patient feeling unbearable, and affecting the effect of acupuncture anesthesia. Acupuncture anesthesia using in some case of a particular disease or some component element of operation may occur analgesia, tension of muscle, or drag reaction of internal organs. So aid medicine should be prepared before operation, and to grasp the juncture of using medicine. Dosage of medicine should be controlled, prevention of side effect of the medicine.