Post-operative pain management for shoulder surgery is closely related to the complications and early functional rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to compare and evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture anesthesia and subacromial self-controlled anesthesia pump in the postoperative analgesia for patients undergoing shoulder surgery. The indicators included the pain visual analog score (VAS), shoulder range of motion (ROM), Lovett muscle strength grade, etc. The results showed that the incidence of gastrointestinal adverse reactions (7/64), recurrence rate of basic diseases (4/64), and overall adverse reaction rate (16/64) in the analgesia pump group were higher than those of the acupuncture group (0/70) (0/70) (4/70). In mild pain patients, there was no difference in VAS between the two groups but the ROM of the acupuncture group was larger. In moderate and severe patients, VAS of the analgesia pump group was lower, but no difference in ROM and shoulder muscle strength between the two groups. It suggests that acupuncture anesthesia has superior safety and is good for rehabilitation, which is especially suitable for mild pain patients as well as the moderate to severe pain patients who are complicated with related basic medical diseases.

shoulder surgery  /  acupuncture anesthesia  /  sub-acromial anesthesia pump  /  postoperative analgesia