The Journal of Practical Medicine ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (18): 3408-3416.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-5725.2026.18.020

• Treatise:Mechanism and Practice • Previous Articles    

Effects of wrist-ankle needle combined with multimodal analgesia on pain after posterior lumbar interbody fusion: A prospective randomized controlled trial

Huiling Huang1, Lianhuan Yang2(), Cailian Xu2, Rongbin Chen2, Haibing Qin2, Yong Li2, Lin Liao2   

  1. 1. Department of Nursing,Zhuhai Hospital,Guangdong Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Zhuhai 519000,Guangdong,China
    2. The Third Branch of Department of Orthopedics,Zhuhai Hospital,Guangdong Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Zhuhai 519000,Guangdong,China
  • Received:2026-05-26 Revised:2026-08-17 Accepted:2026-08-20 Online:2026-09-25 Published:2026-10-19
  • Contact: Lianhuan Yang
  • About author:

    Huang Huiling carried out data analysis and wrote the article. Yang Lianhuan carried out project design. Xu Cailian and Chen Rongbin performed the experiments. Qin Haibing participated in the collection of data. Li Yong and Liao Lin revised the article. All authors read and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effects of wrist-ankle needle combined with multimodal analgesia on pain after posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). Methods 90 patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis were divided into routine group, control group and experimental group, with 30 cases in each group. The routine group was treated with multimodal analgesia. The control group was treated with additional sham needle. The experimental group was treated with additional wrist-ankle needle. The control group received sham needle and the experimental group received wrist-ankle needle starting on the day of surgery. Visual analogue scale (VAS) score of incision and lower limb rebounding pain, analgesic drugs intervention times, laboratory indexes and the scores of Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score were compared among the three groups. Results The experimental group showed a lower incidence of lower limb rebounding pain when compared with that of routine group and control group (P < 0.05). Significant time and intergroup effects were observed for three groups with lower limb rebounding pain (P < 0.05). VAS scores of experimental group were lower when compared with that of the routine group and control group at 48 hours after wound drainage tube removal (P < 0.05). Additionally, the JOA scores and satisfaction scores of patients in the experimental group at 7 days postoperatively were significantly higher than those in routine group and control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions Wrist-ankle needle combined with multimodal analgesia significantly reduced the incidence of lower limb rebounding pain after PLIF, while alleviating lower limb rebounding pain at 48 h after removal of the wound drainage tube. It also improved early postoperative lumbar function, increased patient satisfaction, and promoted patient recovery.

Key words: degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis, wrist-ankle needle, multimodal analgesia, posterior lumbar interbody fusion

CLC Number: