Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation Accelerates the Recovery of Gastrointestinal Function after Cesarean Section: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Table 2
Outcome measurements in TEAS, control, and sham groups.
TEAS (n=43)
Control (n=44)
Sham (n=45)
P-value
TEAS vs Control
TEAS vs Sham
Primary outcomes
First flatus passage (h)
19.3 (10.0)
26.2 (12.8)
26.4 (10.1)
0.004
0.003
First defecation (h)
28.9 (25.2)
42.5 (30.8)
41.3 (29.4)
0.039
0.052
Oral liquid intake (h)
19.8 (5.2)
26.2 (8.6)
23.0 (3.0)
<0.001
0.019
Solid intake (h)
44.4 (12.4)
51.8 (13.8)
51.2 (15.1)
0.021
0.037
Second outcomes
Early mobilization (h)
28.2 (6.3)
30.5 (7.6)
28.9 (2.6)
0.086
0.625
Postoperative hospital stay (h)
92.2 (16.1)
100.2 (15.7)
106.7 (12.6)
0.031
<0.001
Barthel index (score)
94.9 (4.9)
88.4 (9.2)
90.0 (9.5)
0.001
0.015
Incidence of nausea or vomiting
11 (30.6)
8 (18.2)
6 (13.3)
0.283
0.118
VDS for nausea and vomiting
0.1 (0.2)
0.3 (0.7)
0.2 (0.4)
0.048
0.274
Incidence of abdominal distention
9 (20.9)
21 (47.7)
19 (42.2)
0.013
0.040
Incidence of POI
3 (7.0)
1 (2.3)
3 (6.7)
0.360
1.000
NRS for pain at rest (score)
6 h after surgery
1.7 (1.0)
1.6 (0.9)
1.6 (0.9)
0.833
0.612
24 h after surgery
1.4 (0.9)
1.6 (1.1)
1.6 (1.1)
0.470
0.473
48 h after surgery
0.9 (0.8)
1.1 (0.8)
0.7 (0.8)
0.868
0.986
NRS for pain with movements (score)
6 h after surgery
3.0 (1.7)
2.9 (1.8)
3.2 (1.5)
0.711
0.688
24 h after surgery
1.8 (1.5)
2.1 (1.4)
2.2 (1.5)
0.445
0.233
48 h after surgery
1.2 (1.0)
1.1 (0.8)
1.2 (1.0)
0.279
0.340
Values are presented as mean (SD) or number (proportion). POI: postoperative ileus. VDS: verbal descriptive scale; no nausea and vomiting = VDS 0; mild: patient reports nausea but declines antiemetic treatment = VDS 1; moderate: patient reports nausea and accepts antiemetic treatment = VDS 2; severe: nausea with any emesis episode(retching or vomiting) = VDS 3. NRS: numeric rating scale; the NRS for pain is a unidimensional measure of pain intensity in adults; the scores range from 0 to 10; higher scores indicate greater pain intensity. Barthel index is a scoring technique that measures patient's performance in ten activities of daily life; the scores range from 0 to 100; for clinical evaluation, 76-100 points denote “good function”, 51-75 points denote “moderate disability”, and score under 50 denotes “severe disability”.
