Researchers at the University Hospital Center Sestre Milosrdnice in Croatia, have shown that adding ear acupuncture to analgesics is helpful in managing episiotomy pain. A total of 60 women who had undergone episiotomy were randomised to receive either acupuncture plus oral painkillers on request (29), or painkillers alone (31).
Results showed that in the acupuncture group, women’s subjective experience of pain was significantly reduced on the second and third days postpartum, although they did not show a corresponding significant reduction in use of analgesics. No adverse effects of acupuncture were noted. The researchers say that the results prompt the question of whether current ‘best practice’ may yet be improved.
(Auricular acupuncture as effective pain relief after episiotomy: a randomized controlled pilot study. Archives of Gynecology & Obstetrics, November 2019.)