Acupuncture is a well known modality in traditional Chinese medicine to treat various ailments including pain. There is increasing evidence that acupuncture reduces postoperative pain, but it is poorly studied, especially in burn and wound patients. We report our initial experience with acupuncture treatment associated with burns and wounds on our burn service.
Acupuncture appears to mitigate burn and wound pain and can be used to treat other acute ailments besides pain. There are few side effects of acupuncture on burn and wound patients. Based on our initial experience, a prospective observational study to identify the efficacy of acupuncture in burn patients for pain control and other symptoms is being developed.
Researcher
Theresa Chin, MD, MPH