Evaluation of acupuncture and auriculotherapy in the control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting: a Pilot Study.
Sabrina Ferreira Monteiro Morais, Ruth Natalia Teresa Turrini
PMID 37930237WHAT IT FOUND
Combined acupuncture and auriculotherapy, added to chemotherapy and antiemetics, did not reduce nausea or vomiting more than chemotherapy and antiemetics alone in this small pilot.
Key findings
01Nausea and vomiting severity did not differ between groups across sessions.
02Overall nausea, vomiting, and days with symptoms were similar between groups.
03When vomiting occurred, it was mostly Grade I mild; Grade II occurred in two control patients and one acupuncture patient.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This was a pilot with a convenience sample; the paper planned 50 participants, but outcome tables analysed 18 acupuncture and 21 control patients, while baseline tables listed 18 and 24. Participants and the treating researcher were not blinded, so expectations could influence reported nausea, vomiting and diary use. The acupuncture group received acupuncture and auriculotherapy together, plus chemotherapy drugs and antiemetics, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Two chemotherapy protocols with different cycle lengths and sessions were compared, and oxaliplatin was not given in the second BFOL session. Use of antiemetics and herbal teas was not controlled, and patients were not guided to use antiemetics only when symptomatic. CINV was low frequency, especially during sessions, limiting ability to detect differences. Patients were mostly receiving palliative chemotherapy, so results may not apply to adjuvant patients. The groups were not homogeneous for marital status.
Declared interests
Financial support in part by CAPES (Finance Code 001).
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that acupuncture and auriculotherapy are ineffective for chemotherapy nausea and vomiting. This pilot was small, unblinded, and combined two techniques with chemotherapy and antiemetics, so it cannot separate any single component or rule out a benefit.