Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation on Extubation-Related Stress Response in Noncardiac Surgery Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

PURPOSE: Stress response is a common complication during extubation, mainly manifested by dramatic hemodynamic fluctuations. Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) is widely applied in the perioperative period. We performed this meta-analysis to evaluate whether the TEAS could relieve the stress response during extubation in noncardiac surgery patients. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. METHODS: We searched six databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, CNKI, and Wan Fang) for relevant literature. A risk of bias assessment was executed based on the Cochrane Criteria. We applied RevMan5.4.1 software to analyze data. When the χ2 test did not show heterogeneity, we adopted the fixed-effect model. Otherwise, the random-effect model was used. FINDINGS: ln total, 12 randomized controlled trials with 1,347 participants were enrolled in this meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed the heart rate and mean arterial pressure of the intervention group were significantly lower than the control group at immediately, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes after extubation. The occurrence rate of emergency agitation (RR 0.39, 95% CI [0.26,0.60]) and postoperative delirium (RR 0.40, 95% CI [0.22, 0.72] were also lower in the TEAS group. The consumption of propofol (standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.47, 95% CI [-0.77, -0.18]) and remifentanil (SMD 1.49, 95% CI [-2.01, -0.96]) of the intervention group were also significantly reduced compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: TEAS was beneficial for improving stress response during extubation, emergence agitation, postoperative delirium, and reduced the consumption of intraoperative propofol and remifentanil, but it was necessary to note the limitations of the current evidence.