Compared with narcotic anesthesia, needle anesthesia has two advantages: preparation time is much shorter (three minutes vs. 15 minutes) and needle anesthesia has no after- effects. With narcotics, a person must not eat for quite a few hours before, or some time after surgery, in order to prevent vomiting.
而與藥物麻醉比較，針刺麻醉的優點有：第一，準備時間較短（藥物麻醉需在十五分鐘前準備，針刺麻醉只需三分鐘）；第二，針刺麻醉沒有後遺症（藥物麻醉前數小時，即需禁食，以防止嘔吐；手術後亦需數小時才能恢復）。