Wrist-Ankle Acupuncture and Ginger Moxibustion for Preventing Gastrointestinal Reactions to Chemotherapy： A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Published in: Chinese journal of integrative medicine Vol. 21; no. 9; pp. 697 - 702
• Main Author: 刘益群 孙帅 董惠娟 翟东霞 张丹英 沈慰 白玲玲 俞瑾 周丽虹 俞超芹
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Chinese Association of Traditional and Western Medicine 01.09.2015
• Subjects: Acupuncture Research; Acupuncture Therapy - adverse effects; Ankle - physiology; Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Constipation - etiology; Constipation - therapy; Female; Gastrointestinal Diseases - chemically induced; Gastrointestinal Diseases - prevention & control; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Moxibustion - adverse effects; Nausea - chemically induced; Nausea - therapy; Vomiting - etiology; Vomiting - therapy; Wrist - physiology; Zingiber officinale - chemistry; 反应; 姜; 对照组; 癌症患者; 胃肠道; 针灸治疗; 随机对照试验; 预防; gastrointestinal tract reaction; ginger moxibustion; wrist-ankle acupuncture; gynecological tumors
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402; 1993-0402
• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-014-2009-x

Objective： To evaluate the effects of wrist-ankle acupuncture combined with ginger moxibustion against gastrointestinal tract reactions （nausea, vomiting, and constipation） to chemotherapy in cancer patients. Methods： A total of 60 patients with gynecological tumors treated by chemotherapy were randomly divided into two groups. The treatment group （30 cases） underwent wrist-ankle acupuncture and ginger moxibustion, whereas tropisetron hydrochloride and dexamethasone were intravenously administered to the control group （30 cases） during chemotherapy. Results： The frequency of nausea in the treatment group was significantly less than that of the control group from the 2nd to the 5th day of chemotherapy （P〈0.01）. The anti-emetic effect in the treatment group was significantly better than that in the control group on the 3rd day of therapy （P〈0.05）. The incidence rate of constipation was significantly lower in the treatment group than that in the control group （P〈0.01）. Furthermore, the cost of therapy for the treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group （P〈0.01）. Only 1 patient manifested a post-acupuncture side effect in the form of subcutaneous blood stasis. Conclusion： Wrist-ankle acupuncture combined with ginger moxibustion could prevent gastrointestinal tract reactions to chemotherapy in cancer patients. In addition, the proposed method had fewer side effects, lower cost, and less risk.