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CLINICAL TRIAL article
Front. Med.
Sec. Geriatric Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1503727
Effects of preemptive acupuncture on cognitive function of older patients after hip replacement: a randomized controlled trial
Provisionally accepted- Department of Anesthesiology, Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hangzhou, China
Background: Postoperative cognitive impairment is a common complication in older patients after major orthopedic surgery; however, the underlying mechanism is not completely understood.Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of preemptive acupuncture on cognitive dysfunction after hip replacement and to explore its potential mechanisms.: Finally, 54 participants were randomized into sham acup (n = 27) or acup (n = 27) groups, who received acupuncture at the Sishencong (EX-HN1) and Baihui (DU20) acupoints, while participants in the sham acup group received sham acupuncture at the target acupoints. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), and other adverse events were assessed. The levels of microRNA (miR)-124 and -146a and inflammatory cytokines in the peripheral blood were detected. Correlations among miR-124, miR-146a, and inflammatory cytokines were analyzed.Results: Compared with the sham acup group, the MMSE and MoCA scores in the acup group on the 1 st and 7 th day after surgery were higher, and the incidence of POCD on the 1 st day was lower. Acupuncture up-regulated levels of miR-124 and -146a, and decreased the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β to protect cognitive
Keywords: postoperative cognitive dysfunction, Orthopedic Procedures, Hip replacement, Inflammation, microRNA
Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 10 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tu, Zhou, Lv, Wan, Chen and Que. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Bin Que, Department of Anesthesiology, Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hangzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.