[Acupuncture therapy in the outpatients-department of the University Clinic Heidelberg (author's transl)].

Encouraged by the good results obtained using acupuncture anaesthesia, we started therapeutic acupuncture in our institute of anaesthesiology four years ago. In the meantime acupuncture is as important a therapeutic method in our out-patients department as are therapeutic local anaesthesia, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and biofeedback. The results in 520 patients who have been treated with acupuncture for different diseases are reported. The success of treatment, the number of sessions and the recurrence-rate within one and a half years are discussed for the different diseases. Acupuncture treatment was regarded successful when 1, the patient had no complaints at all without medication, and 2, when there was significant improvement (no long term medication, only mild complaints with unusual strain, which were responsive to minimal medication). Thus treatment in cephalgia was successful in 83% with no recurrences (NR) in 84%. In cervical pain syndromes the respective percentages were 80% (NR = 74%) in constipation 80% (NR = 72%), sinusitis 86% (NR = 100%), insomnia 100% (NR = 100%). Good results, albeit with high recurrence rate were achieved in cases of trigeminal neuralgia in 90% (NR = 23%), colitis ulcerosa in 100% (NR = 0%), in bronchial asthma 70% (NR = 50%) and in tumour pain 61% (NR = 0%). Treatment in patients suffering from parathymic conditions were unsatisfactory and results in cases of tinnitus were negative.