Acupuncture points to postop comfort

English Index Acupuncture & Health The Treatment FAQ Acupuncture points to post-op comfort Acupuncture At Work And Play Acupuncture Stops Sickness Surprising Acupuncture Side Effect H E A L T H: Acupuncture may help kids’ nasal allergies Acupuncture gets a face lift and much more Acupuncture for kids Acupuncture is effective against osteoarthritis Acupuncture aids relief for knee arthritis Energy of acupuncturist's needles may ease chronic pain Happy ever after Prozac? Scientific Support for Alternative Medicine Acupuncture Stops Sickness Acupuncture in Auckland Where Are We?

Acupuncture points to post-op comfort

New Scientist 11:39 30 July 04

Acupuncture is a cheap and safe way of preventing people who have just had an operation from being sick or feeling nauseous. That is the conclusion of a review of 26 trials involving over 3000 patients.

Anna Lee of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Mary Done of the New Children's Hospital in Sydney, Australia, focused on trials that studied the effects of "P6" treatment - stimulation of the "pericardium" (P6) acupuncture point on the wrist.

Patients receiving P6 acupuncture were 28 per cent less likely to feel nauseous and 29 per cent less likely to be sick than patients receiving sham treatments, such as insertion of the needle at the wrong place or pretended stimulation of P6.

They were also 24 per cent less likely to ask for anti-sickness drugs. Without treatment, post-operative nausea and vomiting is estimated to affect four out of five people who have had anaesthetics.

In head-to-head comparisons with routine anti-sickness drugs, acupuncture was equally good at preventing nausea and vomiting. The authors report that there were minimal side effects, and advocate P6 acupuncture as a safe and effective means of preventing post-operative sickness and nausea.

Journal reference: The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2004 (DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003281.pub2)

Andy Coghlan

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996210