Electroacupuncture, morphine and clonidine: a comparative study of analgesic effects.

ABSTRACT

This is a comparative study of the analgesic effects of the modified traditional method of analgesia, electroacupuncture (EA), a standard analgesic drug, morphine, a potential analgesic drug, clonidine and the combination of EA + morphine and EA + clonidine. In each case, the index of analgesia (IA) was determined by recording the tail flick latency (TFL) in 60 rats divided into 6 groups of 10 rats each. Group I rats served as control group while Group II-VI were subjected to EA for 20 min (at Zusanli and Kunlun points), morphine (5 mg/kg bw i.p.), clonidine (150 micrograms/kg bw i.p.), EA + morphine and EA + clonidine respectively. TFLs were recorded after the procedure and at 10 min intervals for 150 min or til the TFL returned to¿ the baseline. The IA, analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and its significance determined by multiple comparison test (at 5% level), was found to be significantly different, at various time intervals, in the 6 groups studied.