Effect of Electroacupuncture on the Incidence of Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients Undergoing the Major Surgery

This study is a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled design. In this study, bilateral Shenmen, Neiguan, Baihui and Yintang acupoints were selected for perioperative electroacupuncture treatment, accompanied with evaluating the incidence of delirium within 5 days after surgery and the effects on postoperative NRS pain and sleep quality scores. To clarify the effect of electroacupuncture on the incidence of postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing the major surgery is of great significance to the clinical applications and popularization of traditional acupuncture treatment perioperatively across the world.

Inclusion criteria

• Age≥65 and <90 years old；
• Planning to undergo select timed/limited surgery such as gastrointestinal tumor surgery, bile duct surgery and thoracic surgery etc under general anesthesia, and the estimated operation time is more than 2 hours;；
• Treatment without radiotherapy or chemotherapy prior to surgery；
• Agree to participate in this study and sign informed consent；

Exclusion criteria

• Refuse to participate in this study；
• Preoperative history of schizophrenia, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, or myasthenia gravis；
• Inability to communicate in the preoperative period to complete preoperative evaluation because of severe dementia, coma, language barrier；
• Brain injury or neurosurgery；
• Critical condition (if the ASA grade is greater than or equal to grade IV before surgery); Severe renal impairment (dialysis treatment before surgery); Severe liver function impairment (Child-Pugh level C); Preoperative combined with severe heart disease, LVEF < 30%;
• Previous experience of acupoint stimulation therapy or non-insensitive to acupoint stimulation；
• The attending physician or researcher considers that there are other circumstances (reasons to be noted) that are not suitable for participation in this study.