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.

Transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation with the ReliefBand for the prevention of nausea and vomiting during and after cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia.

Habib AS, Itchon-Ramos N, Phillips-Bute BG, Gan TJ,

Department of Anesthesiology, Box 3094, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710. habib001@mc.duke.edu

We randomized 94 patients undergoing cesarean delivery with spinal anesthesia to receive transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation using the ReliefBand at the P6 point (active group) or an active ReliefBand applied to the dorsum of the wrist (sham control group). The ReliefBand was applied 30-60 min preoperatively and left in place for 24 h. There was no statistically significant difference between the active and sham control groups in the incidence of intraoperative/postoperative nausea (30% versus 43%/23% versus 41%), vomiting (13% versus 9%/26 versus 37%), need for rescue antiemetics (23% versus 18%/34% versus 39%), or complete response (55% versus 57%/51% versus 34%). There was also no difference between the two groups in nausea scores, number of vomiting episodes, or patient satisfaction with postoperative nausea and vomiting management.

Published 23 January 2006 in Anesth Analg, 102(2): 581-4.
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