Symptom Management with Massage and Acupuncture in Postoperative Cancer Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

The level of evidence for the use of acupuncture and massage for the management of perioperative symptoms in cancer patients is encouraging but inconclusive. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial assessing the effect of massage and acupuncture added to usual care vs. usual care alone in postoperative cancer patients. Cancer patients undergoing surgery were randomly assigned to receive either massage and acupuncture on postoperative Days 1 and 2 in addition to usual care, or usual care alone, and were followed over three days. Patients' pain, nausea, vomiting, and mood were assessed at four time points. Data on health care utilization were collected. Analyses were done by mixed-effects regression analyses for repeated measures. One hundred fifty of 180 consecutively approached cancer patients were eligible and consented before surgery. Twelve patients rescheduled or declined after surgery, and 138 patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 scheme to receive massage and acupuncture (n=93) or to receive usual care only (n=45). Participants in the intervention group experienced a decrease of 1.4 points on a 0-10 pain scale, compared to 0.6 in the control group (P=0.038), and a decrease in depressive mood of 0.4 (on a scale of 1-5) compared to +/-0 in the control group (P=0.003). Providing massage and acupuncture in addition to usual care resulted in decreased pain and depressive mood among postoperative cancer patients when compared with usual care alone. These findings merit independent confirmation using larger sample sizes and attention control.

Effects of Integrative Medicine on Pain and Anxiety Among Oncology Inpatients

“…The evidence base for integrative oncology among inpatients is comprised predominantly of small randomized controlled trials conducted over the past three decades, in which pain reduction has been reported (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). A larger, 2004 observational study of massage therapy showed reductions in pain and other symptoms, but this study was comprised of both oncology inpatients and outpatients (21).…”

Use of Acupuncture Among Patients with Prostate Cancer Covered by National Health Insurance in Taiwan: A Retrospective Population-Based Study

“…Acupuncture had been used for more than 2000 years in the Chinese population. Recent studies in acupuncture suggest that acupuncture may provide clinical benefit for patients who have cancer with treatmentrelated side-effects, such as nausea and vomiting, 24 postoperative pain, 25,26 cancer-related pain, 27 chemotherapy-induced leukopenia, 28 postchemotherapy fatigue, 29 possibly insomnia, 30 anxiety, 25 and reduced quality of life. 31 The current study found only a minority of patients with prostate cancer used acupuncture specifically for prostate cancer.…”

Acupuncture and Cancer

“…Ancak yine de kanserle ilişkili anksiyete, depresyon ve uyku problemlerinde doğrudan yarar sağladığına dair güçlü deliller yoktur. Bu konuda yapılacak yüksek kalitede çalışmalara ihtiyaç vardır (21).…”