Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation Accelerates the Recovery of Gastrointestinal Function after Cesarean Section: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Table 1

Demographic data and perioperative details.

	TEAS (n=43)	Control (n=44)	Sham (n=45)	P-value
Age (yr)	32.2 (3.5)	31.4 (4.7)	30.6 (3.9)	0.224
Body mass index (kg m^−2)	27.6 (2.8)	28.8 (2.7)	27.7 (2.0)	0.063
Gestation age (weeks)	38.7 (1.1)	38.7 (1.1)	38.2 (1.1)	0.101
Previous abdominal surgery	29 (67.4)	25 (56.8)	24 (52.4)	0.348
Duration of surgery (min)	41.9 (10.3)	42.0 (8.9)	43.7 (7.7)	0.586
Blood loss during surgery (mL)	426.1 (122.2)	439.8 (106.5)	397.6 (111.5)	0.220
Total intraoperative infusion (mL)	1195.4 (113.3)	1195.5 (161.3)	1188.1 (145.2)	0.963
Intraoperative medication†
Ondansetron	4 (9.3)	7 (15.9)	9 (20.0)	0.370
Dexamethasone	8 (18.6)	6 (13.6)	6 (13.3)	0.743
Ephedrine	6 (14.0)	12 (27.3)	10 (22.2)	0.309
Atropine	2 (4.7)	2 (4.5)	0 (0.0)	0.344
Postoperative analgesia ‡
None	3 (7.0)	3 (6.8)	2 (4.4)	0.855
Patient-controlled epidural analgesia	31 (72.1)	32 (72.7)	30 (66.7)	0.789
Patient-controlled intravenous analgesia	9 (20.9)	9 (20.5)	13 (28.9)	0.573

Values are mean (SD) or number (proportion). †The conditions of nausea and vomiting during surgery were treated with ondansetron 8 mg. 10 mg dexamethasone was given intravenously when there is possible nerve injury during anesthesia. Hypotension (fall in systolic blood pressure (SBP)>20% from baseline) and bradycardia (heart rate (HR) <55 beats/min) were treated with 10 mg ephedrine and 0.5 mg atropine through intravenous bolus injection, respectively. ‡Epidural patient-controlled analgesia was established with 100 mL of 0.05mg mL⁻¹ morphine plus 2mg mL⁻¹ ropivacaine, programmed to deliver a 1 mL bolus with a lockout interval of 15 min and a background infusion of 2 mL h⁻¹. Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia was established with 100 mL of 2 μg mL⁻¹ sufentanil, programmed to deliver a 1 mL bolus with a lockout interval of 15 min and a background infusion of 2 mL h⁻¹.