A surgical research team at Veterans General Hospital in Taipei tackled the problem of pain control after hemorrhoidectomy through a prospective controlled study of 60 patients. In the controlled, randomized trial, half of the patients who underwent hemorrhoidectomies received transcutanous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) at traditional acupoints, while the other 30 received stimulation at sham acupoints. All patients controlled their own analgesia through morphine infusion pumps.

The success of pain control was measured three ways: a self-reported 0-to-lO pain score (no pain through agonizing pain); the amount of morphine self-administered; any complications after the ...