Department of Anesthesiology, University Medicine of Greifswald, Germany; Department of Anesthesia, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Department of Anesthesiology, University Medicine of Greifswald, Germany.
Brain Stimul. 2017 Nov-Dec;10(6):1042-1044. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2017.07.013. Epub 2017 Aug 2.
Randomized clinical trials (RCT) demonstrated that auricular acupuncture (AA) is effective in treatment of acute and chronic pain, although the mechanisms behind AA are not elucidated.
The data concerning the localization of AA points, which are commonly used to treat pain, were extracted from the meta-analysis of 17 RCTs and evaluated using the anatomical map of auricular afferent nerve supply.
Fifteen out of 20 specific AA points, used in the treatment of pain, are situated in areas innervated mostly by the auricular branch of the vagal nerve (ABVN), whereas sham stimulation was applied at the helix of the auricle, innervated by cervical nerves.
Considering the clinical data relating to the anatomy of neural pathways and experimental findings of the mechanisms of transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation, the analgesic effects of AA may be explained by stimulation of ABVN.
随机临床试验（RCT）表明，耳针（AA）在治疗急性和慢性疼痛方面是有效的，尽管其背后的机制尚未阐明。
从 17 项 RCT 的荟萃分析中提取了常用于治疗疼痛的 AA 点定位数据，并使用耳廓传入神经供应的解剖图谱进行评估。
在治疗疼痛时使用的 20 个特定 AA 点中的 15 个位于主要由迷走神经耳支（ABVN）支配的区域，而假刺激则应用于耳廓的耳轮，由颈部神经支配。
考虑到与神经通路解剖相关的临床数据和经皮耳迷走神经刺激机制的实验发现，AA 的镇痛作用可能通过刺激 ABVN 来解释。
