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Research: LAM and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 266
Abstract
LAM and COLLEAGUES, 1. Department of Oncology, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, China; 2. The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510120, China; 3. Department of Clinical Oncology, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, 3 Lok Man Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong; 4. Department of Oncology, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, China. lizhulin903@139.com conducted a single-blind, randomized controlled pilot trial to test the protocol and safety of acupuncture at the si guan xue in the management of cancer pain.
Background
Pain is a common symptom in cancer patients. Acupuncture is a suggested treatment for a wide range of clinical conditions, usually for its beneficial effects on pain control. Si guan xue (the four points) have been widely used in clinical practice, and has shown that it is highly effective, effective in obtaining qi, shows strong acupuncture stimulation, and is simple to manipulate and safe to use. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test the protocol and safety of acupuncture at the si guan xue in the management of cancer pain.
Methodology
This is a single-blind, randomized controlled pilot trial. 42 patients with moderate to severe cancer pain were randomly assigned to three different arms with seven sessions of treatment; that is, treatment arm 1 (the si guan xue arm, n = 14), treatment arm 2 (the si guan xue plus commonly used acupoints arm, n = 14) and the control arm (the commonly used acupoints arm n = 14). Primary outcomes included acupuncture relieving cancer pain, and patients' subjective improvement as measured by the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC). Secondary outcomes included the scores of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and Karnofsky's Performance Status (KPS).
Results
The analysis showed that the cancer pain reduction in treatment arm 2 was most prominent on day 5 when compared with the control arm (P<0.05). There was no difference in the scores of PGIC, EORTC QLQ-C30 or KPS among the three groups (P>0.05). Furthermore, no serious adverse events were observed.
Conclusion
These results indicate that acupuncture at the si guan xue plus commonly used acupoints tends to be effective in reducing cancer pain. However, the sample size was small, and a future multi-centre study with a larger sample size is warranted. Trial Registration: ChiCTR-IOR-15007471 (Retroactively registered on 28 NOV 2015).
References
Lam TY1, Lu LM2, Ling WM3, Lin LZ4. A pilot randomized controlled trial of acupuncture at the Si Guan Xue for cancer pain. BMC Complement Altern Med.;17(1):335. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1838-5. Jun 26 2017.
