Perioperative Electroacupuncture Can Accelerate the Recovery of Gastrointestinal Function in Cancer Patients Undergoing Pancreatectomy or Gastrectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Table 3

Postoperative characteristics.

Variables	EA group (n = 201)	Control group (n = 184)	value
Gastrointestinal function score
Postoperative day 1	53.0 ± 7.9	52.7 ± 7.1	0.651
Postoperative day 3	65.2 ± 11.0	61.5 ± 10.9	0.001
Postoperative day 5	84.5 ± 10.1	78.9 ± 11.1	<0.001
Postoperative day 7	96.0 ± 7.2	91.9 ± 7.2	<0.001
Start of soft diet (day)	4.7 ± 1.7	6.0 ± 2.0	<0.001
Walk independently (day)	3.7 ± 1.0	4.0 ± 1.00	0.005
Hospital stay (day)	10.6 ± 5.3	13.1 ± 6.7	<0.001
Postoperative complications
Death	0	0
Postoperative bleeding	0	1	0.319
Anastomotic leakage	4	4	0.9
Gastroparesis syndrome	3	10	0.037
Abdominal infection	5	3	0.557
Lung infection	6	5	0.875
Urinary tract infection	2	3	0.583
Acupuncture complications
Skin hemorrhage	0	0
Skin infection	0	0
Dizziness	1	0

EA: electroacupuncture.