Anja Jokela '16 (Photo: COM Design & Photography)
Can acupuncture help patients manage their pain and other side effects, like nausea and vomiting, after surgery?
As concerns about opiate use, their side effects, and the potential for abuse continue to mount, fourth-year medical student Anja Jokela ’16 wanted to explore an alternative that has been used for millennia to manage chronic pain and other ailments: acupuncture. She’s long been interested in non-Western approaches to medicine, and once studied at a clinic in Lima, Peru, under a doctor who was also an acupuncturist.
In cooperation with UVM’s Program in Integrative Health, Jokela reviewed the literature on the topic for her senior scholarly project. She examined ten years’ worth of scientific literature published in English and indexed in PubMed on acupuncture and surgery and found that acupuncture has been shown to be a useful technique for several side effects commonly associated with surgery. “The strongest evidence was for post-op nausea and vomiting, and as an analgesic,” she says. “I was particularly impressed by the quality of research related to joint replacement.” Although the biology behind how acupuncture works on the human body still isn’t completely understood, Jokela hopes that the evidence in support of acupuncture’s effects prompts more hospitals – including cancer centers and emergency departments – to begin incorporating it as a pain management tool.
In the fall, she’ll be starting a family medicine residency in Washington State, and hopes to continue her work at the intersection of Western and non-Western approaches to medicine.