Study on the neuroimmune regulatory mechanism of electroacupuncture at Zusanli acupoint for postoperative intestinal paralysis after gastrointestinal surgery

Table 1 Comparison of general data between the two groups

Group	n	Sex		Age (year, mean ± SD)	Abdominal surgical approach		ASA
		Male	Female		Radical resection of colorectal cancer	Radical operation for carcinoma of stomach	II	III
Control	75	42	33	58.61 ± 4.68	48	27	51	24
Electroacupuncture	75	45	30	58.88 ± 4.72	50	25	53	22
χ2/t value		0.246		0.273	0.118		0.125
P value		0.620		0.786	0.731		0.723

ASA: American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Table 2 Comparison of clinical efficacy between the two groups, n (%)

Group	Case	Recure	Excellence	Effective	Of no avail	Overall effective
Control	75	9 (12.00)	30 (40.00)	19 (25.33)	17 (22.67)	58 (77.33)
Electroacupuncture	75	20 (26.67)	39 (52.00)	9 (12.00)	7 (9.33)	68 (90.67)
χ2						4.960
P value						0.026

Table 3 Comparison of gastrointestinal function recovery between the two groups (hour, mean ± SD)

Group	n	Time to recovery of bowel sounds	First exhaust time	First defecation time
Control	75	26.81 ± 3.66	32.63 ± 5.48	38.93 ± 5.07
Electroacupuncture	75	22.88 ± 2.87	28.32 ± 4.41	36.89 ± 4.35
t value		7.318	5.306	2.645
P value		< 0.001	<0.001	0.009

Table 4 Comparison of gastrointestinal hormone levels between the two groups (ng/L, mean ± SD)

Group	n	MTL		GAS
		Before	After 7 days	Before	After 7 days
Control	75	140.72 ± 26.35	201.03 ± 32.481	94.02 ± 12.53	131.71 ± 18.341
Electroacupuncture	75	141.06 ± 26.42	224.69 ± 35.251	93.46 ± 12.58	145.50 ± 20.281
t value		0.079	4.275	0.273	4.368
P value		0.937	< 0.001	0.785	< 0.001

¹P < 0.05 compared with the same group before treatment.

MTL: Motilin; GAS: Gastrin.

Table 5 Comparison of two groups of neurotransmitter levels (mean ± SD)

Group	n	VIP (ng/L)		NO (μmol/L)
		Before	After 7 days	Before	After 7 days
Control	75	81.28 ± 8.21	37.76 ± 6.881	90.06 ± 12.92	68.21 ± 8.601
Electroacupuncture	75	81.42 ± 8.20	32.29 ± 5.701	89.65 ± 12.80	62.03 ± 6.121
t value		0.105	5.302	0.195	5.070
P value		0.917	< 0.001	0.845	< 0.001

¹P < 0.05 compared with the same group before treatment.

VIP: Vasoactive intestinal peptide; NO: Nitric oxide.

Table 6 Comparison of levels of inflammatory immune cytokines in the two groups (mean ± SD)

Group	n	TNF-α (pg/mL)		IL-6 (pg/mL)		IL-1β (pg/mL)
		Before	After 7 days	Before	After 7 days	Before	After 7 days
Control	75	42.95 ± 6.81	18.08 ± 3.151	65.75 ± 12.40	28.27 ± 5.381	108.91 ± 23.45	68.69 ± 11.031
Electroacupuncture	75	42.66 ± 6.67	16.25 ± 2.301	65.33 ± 12.26	24.45 ± 5.091	108.30 ± 23.28	61.77 ± 9.651
t value		0.263	4.063	0.209	4.467	0.160	4.089
P value		0.793	< 0.001	0.835	< 0.001	0.873	< 0.001

¹P < 0.05 compared with the same group before treatment.

TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; IL-6: Interleukin-6; IL-1β: Interleukin-1β.