Efficacy of electroacupuncture for intestinal paralysis after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A case report and literature review

Postoperative intestinal palsy (POI) is a common complication after surgery and is a major cause of high morbidity, prolonged hospital stay, increased resource utilization, and high economic burden. We report a case of a 60-year-old male patient with a 10-year history of gallbladder stones who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and presented with postoperative incisional pain, abdominal distention, and failure to defecate. We used electroacupuncture(EA) for treatment, and the patient began to exhaust flatus after 20 h, began to defecate 67.5 h postoperatively, and was discharged on the 4th day. EA reduced the duration of POI and reduced the length of hospital stay. As an effective intervention for POI, most of the current studies are believed to be associated with the anti-inflammatory effect, but the clinical mechanism deserves further exploration.