Acupuncture in the ER

Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis is reporting success using acupuncture in its emergency room to treat conditions ranging from car accident injuries to migraines to kidney stones, and hoping to prove that the traditional Chinese treatment can reduce reliance on addictive opioid drugs to manage pain.

Two years ago, the hospital became the first in the nation to staff its ER with an acupuncturist. This is part of a broader campaign to promote Eastern remedies as complements to Western mainstream medicine.

Dr. Adam Reinstein, Abbott’s ER acupuncturist, stated, “No matter what I’m treating them for, patients report feeling calmer, more relaxed, and less anxious.” The free service is designed to supplement whatever other care patients receive, but according to Dr. Reinstein there have been cases when it pre-empted the need for prescription painkillers and shortened patients’ ER stays. Now the goal is to measure just how much acupuncture in and of itself makes a difference.

The study published this month in the journal Pain Medicine found equivalent pain relief in patients who received acupuncture alone, but also reductions in their anxiety. After tracking 182 patients, it reported that pain scores in those who received acupuncture dropped by the same amount as those who also received analgesic painkillers. The “observational” study had limits, including the chance that the acupuncture recipients might have been more likely to recover faster in the first place, since there was no comparison group who only received painkillers. They are now pursuing a federal grant for a more definitive study of 750 patients.

Proving acupuncture could sometimes replace opioids would be meaningful because there is growing evidence that the drugs are being overused and causing addictions and overdose deaths, said Dr. Chris Kapsner, the medical director of Abbott’s ER. Minnesota overdose deaths have raised six fold, according to state death records, a trend that has corresponded with rising prescription rates.

“It’s not about Western medicine” vs. Eastern medicine, Dr. Reinstein said. “It’s not about the medication. It’s not about acupuncture. It’s about what can we do to make the patient feel better?”

For more information, contact Wendy at haydenhealth@gmail.com.