Acupuncture for the relief of cancer‐related pain — a systematic review

Lee, Hyangsook; Schmidt, Katja; Ernst, Edzard

doi:10.1016/j.ejpain.2004.10.004

Cited by 125 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…71 Alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, exercise training, and music, may be beneficial, although they have not been studied extensively in heart failure patients. [73][74][75] Opioids should be used as first-line agents for moderate to severe pain. Combination agents, such as oxycodone/acetaminophen, are generally not recommended because the adjuvant agents may prevent dose escalation.…”

Section: Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palliative Care in the Treatment of Advanced Heart Failure

et al. 2009

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H eart failure is epidemic in developed countries and is expanding rapidly worldwide. Roughly 5% of patients with heart failure have end-stage disease that is refractory to medical therapy (stage D heart failure). 1 Palliative care consultation relieves symptoms, improves patient satisfaction, and decreases the costs of care for these patients. Despite this, only a small fraction of end-stage heart failure patients receive palliative care consultation. In recognition of this, palliative/hospice care referral was recommended for endstage heart failure (Level of Evidence 1A) in the most recent American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association heart failure guidelines. 2 To identify evidence-based studies of palliative care in heart failure, we searched the Medline database for literature with the medical subject headings "heart failure" and "palliative care," "supportive care," or "symptom management" and found 394 results. We identified 92 systematic reviews, 44 of which were English-language systematic reviews published within the past 5 years.

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Section: Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palliative Care in the Treatment of Advanced Heart Failure

et al. 2009

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“…For many, traditional pain management approaches such as opioid treatment are not an optimal choice, 2 and studies have shown acupuncture has fewer side effects than pharmacological treatments. [3][4][5][6][7][8] Several systematic reviews and meta-analyses [9][10][11][12] evaluating acupuncture for pain management in cancer patients have been published. Three of these studies [9][10][11] concluded that the evidence was insufficient to support the use of acupuncture because of methodological limitations in the randomized controlled trials that were included.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture for Treatment of Uncontrolled Pain in Cancer Patients

et al. 2013

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Purpose. Pain control is an ongoing challenge in the oncology setting. Prior to implementing a large randomized trial at our institution, we investigated the feasibility, safety, and initial efficacy of acupuncture for uncontrolled pain among cancer patients. Hypotheses. Our hypotheses were that the acupuncture treatments provided would be (a) feasible, (b) safe, and (c) a beneficial adjunct to pain management. Study Design. This was a single arm, nonrandomized pragmatic pilot study. Methods. Participants experiencing pain ≥4 on a 0 to 10 numeric rating scale received a maximum of 10 treatments on an individualized basis. Recruitment, attrition, compliance, and adverse events (AEs) were assessed. Pain (Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form), quality of life (MD Anderson Symptom Inventory [MDASI]), and patient satisfaction were assessed at baseline and at the end of treatment. Results. Of 115 patients screened, 52 (45%) were eligible and agreed to participate. Eleven (21%) were lost to follow-up, leaving 41 who completed all study procedures. No AEs were reported. Mean pain severity was 6.0 ± 1.3 at baseline and 3.8 ± 2.0 at follow-up (P < .0001). Pain interference was 6.2 ± 2.3 at baseline and 4.3 ± 2.8 at follow-up (P < .0011). On the MDASI, the mean symptom severity was 4.6 ± 1.8 at baseline and 3.2 ± 1.9 at follow-up (P < .0001), and mean symptom interference was 5.8 ± 2.4 at baseline and 4.1 ± 2.9 at follow-up (P < .002). Prescribed pain medications decreased across the course of the study. Patient satisfaction was high: 87% reported that their expectations were met "very well" or "extremely well"; 90% said they were likely to participate again; 95% said they were likely to recommend acupuncture to others; and 90% reported they found the service to be "useful" or "very useful." Conclusions. Acupuncture was feasible, safe, and a helpful treatment adjunct for cancer patients experiencing uncontrolled pain in this study. Randomized placebo-controlled trials are needed to confirm these results.

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“…A clinically important improvement (2 points on the esas) clear. Several studies of varying methodologic rigour suggest that acupuncture can potentially help manage cancer symptoms such as pain, lack of appetite, nausea, emotional distress, depression, and anxiety [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . However, no study has focused exclusively on lung cancer patients, despite that cancer being one of the commonest in men and women alike 20,21 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the use of acupuncture has not yet been accepted as a standard of care in adjunctive medical treatment. The general applicability of the results from acupuncture studies to date are limited because of the use of different acupuncture techniques (for example, electrical or manual), controls (with or without comparison groups), outcome measures, needle protocols, and duration of treatment 13,15,16,27 . Most importantly from our perspective, no earlier acupuncture trials have focused specifically on lung cancer patients, despite the large numbers of patients diagnosed with lung cancer and their evident need for control of frequent, severe, and debilitating symptoms 28,29 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Potential Role for Acupuncture in Treating Symptoms in Patients with Lung Cancer: An Observational Longitudinal Study

Kasymjanova

Grossman

Tran³

et al. 2013

Current Oncology

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was reported by 61% of patients for pain and by 33% for well-being.A significant positive correlation between improved well-being and the number of acupuncture sessions was observed. This correlation remained significant even after controlling for treatment and narcotic use. Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that a minimum of 6 acupuncture sessions are required for a 70% chance of a clinically important improvement in well-being. ConclusionsThe present study is the first to demonstrate that acupuncture may be an effective approach for improving symptoms-in particular, pain and well-being-in lung cancer patients. Acupuncture is a safe and minimally invasive procedure, and it is potentially useful even in patients undergoing anticancer treatment.

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Acupuncture for the relief of cancer‐related pain — a systematic review

Abstract: The notion that acupuncture may be an effective analgesic adjunctive method for cancer patients is not supported by the data currently available from the majority of rigorous clinical trials. Because of its widespread acceptance, appropriately powered RCTs are needed.

Cited by 125 publications

References 34 publications

Palliative Care in the Treatment of Advanced Heart Failure

Palliative Care in the Treatment of Advanced Heart Failure

Acupuncture for Treatment of Uncontrolled Pain in Cancer Patients

The Potential Role for Acupuncture in Treating Symptoms in Patients with Lung Cancer: An Observational Longitudinal Study

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