Acupuncture Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Acupuncture, including details on alternative medicine, uses, benefits, treatment, chinese medicine.

Acustimulation wrist bands are not effective for the control of chemotherapy-induced nausea in women with breast cancer.

Roscoe JA, Matteson SE, Morrow GR, Hickok JT, Bushunow P, Griggs J, Qazi R, Smith B, Kramer Z, Smith J

University of Rochester Cancer Center, Rochester General Hospital Cancer Center, New York 14642, USA.

This experiment examined the efficacy of an acustimulation wrist band for the relief of chemotherapy-induced nausea using a randomized three-arm clinical trial (active acustimulation, sham acustimulation, and no acustimulation) in 96 women with breast cancer who experienced nausea at their first chemotherapy treatment. Five outcomes related to wrist band efficacy (acute nausea, delayed nausea, vomiting, QOL, and total amount of antiemetic medication used) were examined. The five outcomes were examined separately using analysis of covariance controlling for age and severity of past nausea. There were no significant differences in any of these study measures among the three treatment conditions (P>0.1 for all). Study results do not support the hypothesis that acustimulation bands are efficacious as an adjunct to pharmacological antiemetics for control of chemotherapy-related nausea in female breast cancer patients.

Published 28 April 2005 in J Pain Symptom Manage, 29(4): 376-84.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Acupuncture Research Today. All Rights Reserved.