Electro-acupuncture enhances management of chemo-induced nausea

Electro-acupuncture enhances management of chemo-induced nausea

Adding electro-acupuncture (EA) to standard antiemetic therapy significantly enhances the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in breast cancer patients. Chinese researchers randomised 239 patients undergoing highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) to either verum or sham EA. Both groups received standard triple antiemetic therapy. The primary endpoint of ‘complete protection’ was defined as no vomiting, no requirement for rescue treatment and no significant nausea within 120 hours post-HEC. The results showed a significantly higher complete protection rate in the EA group (52.9%) compared with the sham group (34.5%). Verum EA also improved total control (13.4%), absence of significant nausea (58.8%), absence of nausea (13.4%) and nausea measured on a visual analogue scale (12.6%). By contrast, no significant difference was observed in vomiting prevention in the sham EA group. (Effect of Adding Electroacupuncture to Standard Triple Antiemetic Therapy on Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Dec;42(34):4051-4059).

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39241208/