Acupuncture given before surgery, can help to protect the heart during heart valve replacement operations: damage to tissue caused when blood supply is restored after open-heart surgery, contributes to post-operative complications and mortality.
In a randomised, controlled trial, sixty patients were allocated to receive either a 30 minute electroacupuncture treatment on five consecutive days before surgery, or no treatment as a control. Measured at 6,12 and 24 hours after post-operative restoration of the heart’s blood supply, levels in the blood of a biochemical marker for heart muscle damage, were significantly lower in the electroacupuncture group compared to the control group. The former group were also found to require shorter stays in intensive care.
(Cardioprotective Effects of Electroacupuncture Pretreatment on Patients undergoing Heart Valve Replacement Surgery: A Randomised Controlled Trial. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, March 2010.)
A trial studying the effects of acupuncture for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) has been carried out at two hospitals in Japan. Thirty patients were divided into two groups. Both groups remained on their usual medication, but in addition, one group received acupuncture weekly for ten weeks. At the end of the treatment period, the acupuncture group showed significantly less breathing difficulty after a standard six minute walk test. 
A review paper by American authors supports the use of acupuncture for cardiac arrhythmias. In the eight published studies they reviewed, between 87% and 100% of patients converted to normal sinus rhythm after acupuncture treatment. The limited quality of current studies however, calls for further controlled clinical trials with standardized treatment protocols, diverse patient populations, and long-term follow-up.
Swedish researchers have looked at the effects of minimal acupuncture for colic, in babies unresponsive to conventional treatment. Forty such babies, median age six weeks, were recruited from 21 child welfare clinics and assigned to receive either acupuncture (light needling for twenty seconds at two points only), or the same care except acupuncture. The acupuncture group cried significantly less after the treatment, and exhibited a significant reduction in pain-related behaviour eg facial expression. Parents also rated acupuncture as more effective than the care received by the control group.