Han Ji-Sheng
Institute of Neuroscience, Peking University, Beijing 100083, China.
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2016 Oct 25;41(5):377-87.
In the present paper, the author retrospects the historical developmental stages of acupuncture anesthesia-analgesia from 1) preliminary exploration:the creative application of acupuncture therapy to surgery with lower dosage or without anesthetics began in Shanghai and Xi'an in 1958; 2) clinical popularization:the acupuncture anesthesia-analgesia became popularized from 1965, peaked in 1970s' and declined from 1980s'; 3) mechanism study:from 1970 to 2000, a large quantity of research papers were published to confirm the validity of acupuncture analgesia (AA), and in 1997, NIH Consensus Conference for acupuncture was held, promoting the related research in the world; 4) focused research:from 2007 to now, the acupuncture anesthesia-analgesia was listed as one of the key research program in China; 5) theoretical summary:in view of the uncertainty of the scientific basis of the meridian system of traditional Chinese medicine, the nerve fibers distributed under the acupoint are now considered to be the indispensable components for AA, and the knowledge of modern neuroscience is competent to explain the underlying mechanism of AA; 6) returning to reality:AA has been accepted by the international scientific community, and the "acupuncture-assisted anesthesia", or "compound acupuncture and anesthetics anesthesia" has been used as the first choice for some types of surgical operation. The research on acupuncture anesthesia-analgesia greatly facilitates clinical application of acupuncture therapy in the world, and also promotes the development of acupuncture therapy itself and neuroscience. However, the transformation between theory and practice and their mutual interaction are endless endeavor. Thus, a careful review of the half-century-long practice of acupuncture anesthesia-analgesia is painstakingly necessary in order to clarifying the mechanisms, to raise the efficacy of clinical practice and to correct the possible errors referred to this concept.
在本文中，作者回顾了针刺麻醉镇痛的历史发展阶段：1）初步探索：1958年，针刺疗法在上海和西安开始创造性地应用于低剂量或无麻醉剂的手术；2）临床推广：针刺麻醉镇痛从1965年开始普及，在20世纪70年代达到高峰，80年代开始衰落；3）机制研究：1970年至2000年，发表了大量研究论文以证实针刺镇痛（AA）的有效性，1997年，美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）召开针刺共识会议，推动了全球范围内的相关研究；4）重点研究：2007年至今，针刺麻醉镇痛被列为中国重点研究项目之一；5）理论总结：鉴于中医经络系统科学基础的不确定性，现在认为穴位下分布的神经纤维是针刺麻醉镇痛不可或缺的组成部分，现代神经科学知识足以解释针刺麻醉镇痛的潜在机制；6）回归现实：针刺麻醉镇痛已被国际科学界所接受，“针刺辅助麻醉”或“针药复合麻醉”已被用作某些类型手术的首选。针刺麻醉镇痛的研究极大地促进了针刺疗法在世界范围内的临床应用，也推动了针刺疗法自身及神经科学的发展。然而，理论与实践之间的转化及其相互作用是一项永无止境的努力。因此，认真回顾针刺麻醉镇痛半个世纪的实践，对于阐明其机制、提高临床实践疗效以及纠正该概念可能存在的错误是非常必要的。
