Efficacy of acupoint injection of recombinant human erythropoietin in the treatment of postoperative hemorrhagic anemia in elderly patients with femoral intertrochanteric fracture

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupoint injection of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) in the treatment of postoperative hemorrhagic anemia in elderly patients with femoral intertrochanteric fracture (FIF).

Methodology: This retrospective cohort analysis was conducted at Zhejiang Provincial Tongde Hospital. The research data were obtained from 60 elderly patients with hemorrhagic anemia after FIF surgery who were treated from April 2022 to December 2023. Patients who received acupoint injection of rHuEPO (acupoint group) were matched with the queue of patients who underwent conventional subcutaneous injection of rHuEPO (subcutaneous group) in a 1:1 ratio, 30 patients in each group. The postoperative clinical efficacy, levels of blood routine indicators, coagulation function, transfusion status, and incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.

Results: The clinical efficacy in the acupoint group was higher than that in the subcutaneous group (P<0.05). One day after surgery, there was no significant difference in blood routine indicators between the two groups (P>0.05). Seven and 14 days after surgery, the levels of red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and hematocrit (HCT) in both groups increased, and were higher in the acupoint group than in the subcutaneous group (P<0.05). There were significant time-dependent changes in coagulation parameters — prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and fibrinogen (FIB) — in both groups at 1, 7, and 14 days after surgery (P<0.05), without significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). The blood transfusion in the acupoint group was lower than that in the subcutaneous group (P<0.05).

Conclusions: Compared with the conventional subcutaneous injection, acupoint injection of rHuEPO seems to be more effective in treating elderly patients with hemorrhagic anemia after FIF surgery.