P6 Acupressure and Nausea and Vomiting after Gynaecological Surgery

Abstract

We studied the effect of P6 acupressure on 46 women undergoing laparotomy for major gynaecological surgery who received patient-controlled analgesia. Half the patients received acupressure at the P6 site, the remainder received acupressure at a "sham" site. There was a reduction in the requests for anti-emetic therapy in the group receiving P6 acupressure but there was no difference in the incidence of nausea and vomiting. There was no difference in total morphine consumption between the two groups.

Stimulation of the wrist acupuncture point PC6 for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting

“…There were 10 types of PC6 acupoint stimulation: needle acupuncture (Dundee 1986; Dundee 1989; Sharma 2007; Streitberger 2004; Yentis 1992); infiltration of dextrose (Ravi 2010; Tavlan 1996; Wang 2002; Yang 1993) or with droperidol (Zhu 2010); semipermanent needles (Andrzejowski 1996); electrical stimulation of needles (Amir 2007; Dundee 1989; El-Deeb 2011; Gan 2004; Ho 1990; Rusy 2002); transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (Fassoulaki 1993; Ho 1990), transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (Habib 2006; Wang 2010; Xu 2012), laser stimulation (Butkovic 2005; Schlager 1998); acu-stimulation device (Ertas 2015; Frey 2009a; Frey 2009b; Kim 2004; White 2002; Zárate 2001); and acupressure (Adib-Hajbaghery 2013; Agarwal 2000; Agarwal 2002; Alkaissi 1999; Alkaissi 2002; Allen 1994; Barsoum 1990; Direkvand-Moghadam 2013; Duggal 1998; Ebrahim Soltani 2010; Ferrara-Love 1996; Gieron 1993; Harmon 1999; Harmon 2000; Ho 1996; Iqbal 2012; Klein 2004; Lewis 1991; Majholm 2011; Nilsson 2015; Sadighha 2008; Samad 2003; Schultz 2003; Turgut 2007; White 2012). Three studies used conventional peripheral nerve stimulation (Arnberger 2007; Kim 2011; Liu 2008).…”

“…Twenty trials did not report all four outcomes: postoperative nausea, postoperative vomiting, rescue antiemetic drugs, and adverse events in their studies (Adib-Hajbaghery 2013; Alkaissi 1999; Allen 1994; Barsoum 1990; Butkovic 2005; Direkvand-Moghadam 2013; Ertas 2015; Fassoulaki 1993; Ferrara-Love 1996; Frey 2009a; Habib 2006; Harmon 2000; Ho 1990; Koo 2013; Lewis 1991; Ravi 2010; Sadighha 2008; Schultz 2003; Yang 1993; Yentis 1992). …”

Stimulation of the wrist acupuncture point P6 for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting

“…For example, P6 acupoint stimulation significantly reduced the risk of PONV in some studies (Amir 2007; Butkovic 2005; Ho 1996; Rusy 2002; Turgut 2007; Wang 2002) but not in others (Agarwal 2000; Allen 1994; Barsoum 1990; Misra 2005; Shenkman 1999). One systematic review (Vickers 1996), using a ’vote counting’ approach, suggested that acupuncture may not be effective in the prevention of PONV.…”

Management of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Women Undergoing Major Gynecological Surgery: A Review and Update

“…Combination Antiemetic TherapyNo AEs from the medications were documented in any of the groups.The incidence of AEs was not different beteen the groups.PONV after major gynecological surgery[54][55][56][57]. Fassoulaki et al demonstrated that electrical stimulation on the P6 point for 6 h postoperatively was effective for preventing PONV during 0-6 h after anesthesia[54].…”

“…Frey et al demonstrated that electrical stimulation of acupuncture point (P6) for 24 h postoperatively reduced the incidence of PONV[55]. By contrast, Allen et al[56] and Streitberg et al[57] demonstrated that perioperative acupressure and acupuncture did not decrease the occurrence of PONV. In another study, Kim et al investigated the effectiveness of capsicum plaster, containing powdered capsicum, at the Korean hand acupuncture (K-D2) point, located on the lateral distal phalanx of the index finger of both hands, for preventing PONV.…”