A Randomized Clinical Trial of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation for Pain Relief After Dental Implant Surgery

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on postoperative pain, sleep quality, and swelling following dental implant surgery. METHODS: A randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind clinical trial was conducted. A total of 64 patients who underwent single-tooth implant surgery without bone grafting at the Chongqing Medical University Affiliated Stomatological Hospital between June 2024 and June 2026 were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the TEAS group (n = 32) or the Mock group (n = 32). In the TEAS group, stimulation was applied at the Hegu (LI4) and Laogong (PC8) acupoints for 30 min using a 2/100 Hz variable-frequency current, once 30 min before surgery and again 30 min after surgery. The Mock group received electrode pads attached to the same acupoints without electrical output. The primary outcome was the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain score on the night of surgery (POD 1) and on POD 2 and 3. Secondary outcomes included total sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and local swelling score. RESULTS: Baseline demographic characteristics did not differ significantly between the two groups (p > 0.05). On the night of surgery, the VAS pain score in the TEAS group was significantly lower than that in the Mock group (1.719 ± 1.397 vs. 3.094 ± 2.100, p = 0.003), but not on POD 2 or POD 3 (p > 0.05). Total sleep duration was significantly longer in the TEAS group than in the Mock group on both the night of surgery and POD 2 (p < 0.05), but not on POD 3 (p > 0.05). Sleep efficiency did not differ significantly between groups at any time point (p > 0.05). On POD 3, the swelling score in the TEAS group was significantly lower than that in the Mock group (0.813 ± 0.896 vs. 1.438 ± 1.045, p = 0.013), whereas no significant differences were found on the night of surgery or POD 2 (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: TEAS may reduce early postoperative pain (within the first 24 h), prolong sleep duration on the night of surgery and POD 2, and reduce local swelling on POD 3 after dental implant surgery. These findings support the use of TEAS as an effective adjunctive modality within a multimodal analgesia protocol for dental implant surgery.