Wrist-Ankle Acupuncture for Pain After Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization in Patients with Liver Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Item
Title
Wrist-Ankle Acupuncture for Pain After Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization in Patients with Liver Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Journal Publication
Date
2014
volume
42(2)
pages
289-302
Research Type
RCT
Keywords
Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the analgesic effect of wrist-ankle acupuncture (WAA) for patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Sixty PLC patients with post-TACE visual analog pain intensity scores greater than 3 were divided equally into two groups receiving either WAA or oral morphine sulphate (MOR) for post-TACE pain. Pain intensity scores were reassessed at 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after analgesic intervention. Patients were also monitored for adverse reactions to analgesic treatment. Pain scores recorded when the patients first felt pain after TACE showed no statistical difference between the two groups (p > 0.05). WAA and MOR had indistinguishable degrees of pain relief 1, 2, and 4 h after analgesic intervention (p > 0.05). At 6 h after intervention, the WAA group experienced significantly greater pain relief than the MOR group (p < 0.05). Incidence of abdominal distension was lower in the WAA group than in the MOR group (p < 0.05). The results suggest that WAA not only had an analgesic effect equal to or greater than MOR in PLC patients with moderate to severe post-TACE pain, but also reduced the incidence of post-operative abdominal distention.
doi
10.1142/S0192415X14500190
View on Pubmed
Number of Participants
60
has health condition studied
Liver Diseases
has study population number
60
has duration
1 Day