Article

The efficacy of acupressure and acustimulation wrist bands for the relief of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. A University of Rochester Cancer Center Community Clinical Oncology Program multicenter study.

University of Rochester Cancer Center, Rochester, New York 14642, USA.
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (impact factor: 2.5). 08/2003; 26(2):731-42. pp.731-42
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT As an adjunct to standard antiemetics for the relief of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (NV), 739 patients were randomly assigned to either: 1) acupressure bands, 2) an acustimulation band, or 3) a no band control condition. Patients in the acupressure condition experienced less nausea on the day of treatment compared to controls (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in delayed nausea or vomiting among the three treatment conditions. Additional analyses revealed pronounced gender differences. Men in the acustimulation condition, but not the acupressure condition, had less NV compared to controls (P<0.05). No significant differences among the three treatment conditions were observed in women, although the reduction in nausea on the day of treatment in the acupressure, compared to the no band condition, closely approached statistical significance (P=0.052). Expected efficacy of the bands was related to outcomes for the acupressure but not the acustimulation conditions.

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    Article: Getting the grip on nonspecific treatment effects: emesis in patients randomized to acupuncture or sham compared to patients receiving standard care.
    Anna Enblom, Mats Lekander, Mats Hammar, Anna Johnsson, Erik Onelöv, Martin Ingvar, Gunnar Steineck, Sussanne Börjeson
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    ABSTRACT: It is not known whether or not delivering acupuncture triggers mechanisms cited as placebo and if acupuncture or sham reduces radiotherapy-induced emesis more than standard care. Cancer patients receiving radiotherapy over abdominal/pelvic regions were randomized to verum (penetrating) acupuncture (n = 109; 99 provided data) in the alleged antiemetic acupuncture point PC6 or sham acupuncture (n = 106; 101 provided data) performed with a telescopic non-penetrating needle at a sham point 2-3 times/week during the whole radiotherapy period. The acupuncture cohort was compared to a reference cohort receiving standard care (n = 62; 62 provided data). The occurrence of emesis in each group was compared after a mean dose of 27 Gray. Nausea and vomiting were experienced during the preceding week by 37 and 8% in the verum acupuncture group, 38 and 7% in the sham acupuncture group and 63 and 15% in the standard care group, respectively. The lower occurrence of nausea in the acupuncture cohort (verum and sham) compared to patients receiving standard care (37% versus 63%, relative risk (RR) 0.6, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.5-0.8) was also true after adjustment for potential confounding factors for nausea (RR 0.8, CI 0.6 to 0.9). Nausea intensity was lower in the acupuncture cohort (78% no nausea, 13% a little, 8% moderate, 1% much) compared to the standard care cohort (52% no nausea, 32% a little, 15% moderate, 2% much) (p = 0.002). The acupuncture cohort expected antiemetic effects from their treatment (95%). Patients who expected nausea had increased risk for nausea compared to patients who expected low risk for nausea (RR 1.6; Cl 1.2-2.4). Patients treated with verum or sham acupuncture experienced less nausea and vomiting compared to patients receiving standard care, possibly through a general care effect or due to the high level of patient expectancy. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00621660.
    PLoS ONE 01/2011; 6(3):e14766. · 4.09 Impact Factor
Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.

Keywords

acupressure
 
acupressure condition
 
acustimulation band
 
acustimulation condition
 
acustimulation conditions
 
Additional analyses
 
band condition
 
band control condition
 
bands
 
chemotherapy-induced nausea
 
efficacy
 
gender differences
 
Men
 
nausea
 
NV
 
Patients
 
standard antiemetics
 
statistical significance
 
three treatment conditions
 
women
 

Joseph A Roscoe