Combination of acupuncture and anesthesia is proving effective

Doctors at Gansu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine recently received a thank-you letter from doctors in the United States, showing what win-win outcomes can be achieved when doctors from the two countries work together and learn from each other.

Xue Jianjun, director of the hospital's anesthetic medicine center, received the letter from Frank Yurasek, director of acupuncture at the Cook County Health and Hospitals Systems in Chicago.

Yurasek and colleague Robert Fischer visited the Gansu hospital for a couple of weeks in September 2018 to learn how to combine TCM with Western anesthetic technology.

Xue, who has more than 20 years of clinical experience in anesthesia, said combining acupuncture with Western anesthesia had a great effect in relieving patients' anxiety before an operation, protecting major organs during surgery and reducing the rate of postoperative complications.

Yurasek, an acupuncture specialist with years of practical experience, has visited many Chinese cities, including Guangzhou in Guangdong province, Shanghai and Beijing, to learn TCM.

Ding Fanfan, a resident at Gansu Provincial Hospital of TCM, said the two US doctors attended the morning shift meeting every day. The center also formulated a study plan for the doctors as well as courses for them to learn basic TCM theories.

They often visited the operating room to see how acupuncture was used during operations, and asked how the patients were feeling, Ding said.

They also wrote notes and questions in a notebook, he said, adding that he was impressed by Yurasek's diligence and love for TCM.