The hair-thin needles are usually made of stainless steel, or at times even of gold. While those used in surgery can be longer, the ones used in routine treatment are about one to three inches long.

British doctors visited hospitals in Peking, Shanghai, Canton and Nanking. They related remarkable evidence of effective acupuncture use in major surgery, even brain surgery. In one case, the London Times reported, “it is claimed that no one could have borne the pain of this particular treatment without some form of anaesthetic.” Yet, only acupuncture was used.

The first Americans to observe the use of acupuncture in China were two biologists. In May of 1971, Dr. Ethan Signer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr. Arthur Galston of Yale University watched four operations there. Acupuncture was the anesthetic.

They returned to the United States excited over the ability of acupuncture to deaden pain. Dr. Galston stated: “I had always associated acupuncture in my mind​—as most Americans do—​with a far-out, charlatan procedure.” But what he saw changed his mind. The two biologists suggested that acupuncture deserved more study, and noted that its effects as an anesthetic lasted many hours.

Medical Authorities Observe

American visitors to China in September included respected medical authorities. Among them were Dr. Paul Dudley White of Boston, an internationally renowned heart specialist and former consultant to the late President Eisenhower. With White were Dr. E. Grey Dimond, provost for health sciences at the University of Missouri, and Dr. Samuel Rosen, a New York city ear surgeon. Another was Dr. Victor Sidel of New York, chief of the department of social medicine at Montefiore Hospital and professor of community health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

These four physicians witnessed extensive demonstrations of acupuncture, especially for anesthesia. They were astonished to see major operations where the only pain-killer used was acupuncture.

The Medical Tribune reported: “Dr. White and Dr. Dimond, both cardiologists, watched open heart surgery in Peking with acupuncture anesthesia. They said that the patient was awake, alert, relaxed during surgery, and that the surgery was performed as well as any they had ever seen.”

Dr. Rosen reported observing fifteen procedures. He saw a tooth extraction, tonsillectomy, appendectomy, herniotomy, a brain-tumor operation, removal of a lung, removal of an ovarian cyst, and a Cesarean birth. He said: “When you see these operations, you come out and pinch yourself. You wonder if you really saw what you saw. After you have seen it over and over, you have to give up what you thought in favor of what you saw.”

He also noted that the Chinese surgeon decides if a person is suitable for acupuncture anesthesia. If so, he tells the patient why he believes it is good​—it eliminates the risks that accompany drugs or inhalant gas, it prevents postoperative nausea and vomiting, and shortens recovery time. However, if the patient is extremely nervous, tense, and high strung, he may recommend conventional anesthesia. In any case, should the conventional anesthesia be needed it is kept on hand in the operating room.

Dr. Rosen brought back to the United States a 30-minute film which recorded some of what he saw. It included surgeons removing part of a woman’s spinal cord while she was awake and smiling. It showed a man getting off the operating table after having his appendix taken out and shaking hands with the surgeon. Another patient sipped tea through a straw while surgeons corrected a heart defect. And a mother smiled proudly at her new son moments after he was born by a Cesarean operation. All used acupuncture anesthesia.

President’s China Trip

Then, in February of 1972, President Nixon traveled to China. With him were reporters and his personal medical staff.

Correspondent Robert Martin of U.S. News & World Report was invited to spend several hours in operating rooms of a major Peking hospital. He witnessed surgeons perform a lobectomy on a 28-year-old man, remove a tumor from the thyroid of a 45-year-old woman, and deliver a baby by Cesarean section to a 36-year-old woman.

Martin wrote: “Throughout the three operations, the patients were completely conscious, were able to talk, and occasionally chewed oranges or drank fruit juice. They displayed more nervousness over the presence of foreign watchers than because of pain or discomfort.” He concluded: “There is no doubt, once you have seen it yourself: Acupuncture is effective in surgical anesthesia.”

Dr. Walter Tkach, personal physician to President Nixon, was also given intense exposure to acupuncture anesthesia. He saw the removal of a cataract, the excision of a thyroid tumor, and the removal of an ovarian cyst. In all the patients, insertion of the needles was done quickly. The needles were twirled between the acupuncturist’s thumb and forefinger. And when insertion was complete, the needles were attached to an electrical device to vibrate them, instead of its being done by hand.

Dr. Tkach related this about his experience: “I was impressed from the beginning. And frankly I was astonished when each of the patients got up from the operating table with little or no help and walked unassisted to the carts that were to take them back to their rooms; I have seen nothing like that in 25 years of association with surgery. The clincher came nearly an hour after we left the OR [operating room]. We were in a room when the door opened and all three patients were ushered in. They were comfortable and able to drink tea with us and answer our questions.”

Dr. Tkach concluded: “There is something important here we should take a good look at.” He also said: “I know that I would not hesitate to receive the procedure myself.”