Electroacupuncture is needling with a small electrical current passed between pairs of inserted needles. It is a twentieth-century development rather than a classical technique: the needles are classical, the current is not. Textbooks describe it as a way of standardising stimulation that would otherwise depend on how long and how vigorously a practitioner manipulates each needle by hand.
Frequency is the main variable clinicians discuss. Low and high frequencies are described as producing different effects in laboratory and animal work, and different devices offer different waveforms. This matters for reading the research: two studies that both say "electroacupuncture" may not have applied anything like the same stimulus.
The evidence base has the same shape as the rest of this field - small trials, difficulty blinding, and heterogeneous protocols. Systematic reviews tend to describe possible short-term effects and call for larger, better-controlled work rather than declaring the question settled.
Safety deserves the most attention. Electroacupuncture is not appropriate for anyone with a pacemaker or another implanted electronic device, and it is used with real caution in pregnancy and in people with epilepsy. Before starting, a practitioner should be able to explain why a particular current and placement is safe for the person in front of them.
电针是在刺入的针之间通以小电流的做法。它属于二十世纪的产物，而非古典技术：针是古典的，电流不是。教材一般把它描述为一种把刺激量标准化的方式——否则刺激量取决于操作者用手法行针的时长与力度。
频率是临床讨论中最主要的变量。低频与高频在实验室与动物研究中被描述为产生不同效应，不同设备的波形也各不相同。这一点直接影响如何解读文献：两项都写着「电针」的研究，施加的刺激可能完全不同。
证据的面貌与本领域其他部分一致——样本小、难以设盲、方案异质。系统评价通常只能说「可能有短期效应」，并呼吁更大规模、控制更好的研究，而不是宣布问题已有定论。
最需要留意的是安全：装有心脏起搏器或其他植入式电子设备者不适合电针；孕期与癫痫患者需格外谨慎。开始之前，操作者应当能够说明，为什么某个电流与放置方式对眼前这个人是安全的。
24 related entries.