Ｏｂｊｅｃｔｉｖｅ　Using preoperative acupuncture to investigate the efficacy to relieve postoperative pain and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after intercostal nerve transfer surgery.　Methods　Sixty patients undergoing intercostal nerve transfer surgery were recruited and divided randomly into two groups (30 cases in each). Group A were given advanced acupuncture analgesia one day preoperatively. Both group A and group P received patient controlled intravenous analgesia(PCIA) postoperatively. VAS scores after surgery, incidence of PONV, the postoperative dosage of analgesic fentanyl used were observed and recorded. Analgesia-related β-endorphin (β-EP) and inflammation-related IL-6 were selected and compared in both groups as indices.　Results　At 2 h after the operation, there was statistically significant difference in β-EP and IL-6 content between group A and P (P＜0.05). A single factor analysis of variance showed a significant difference in postoperative PCIA fentanyl dosage between the two groups of the patients (P＜0.05).　Conclusions　Acupuncture produces an increasing effect on analgesia index β-EP in intercostal nerve transfer patients and reduces the inflammatory response from surgical trauma. At the same time, it reduces the amount of the postoperative fentanyl. Acupuncture has an obvious advantage over the conventional postoperative analgesia.