Molassiotis, A., Russell, W., Hughes, J., Breckons, M., Lloyd-Williams, M., Richardson, J., … Ryder, W.D. (2013). The effectiveness of acupressure for the control and management of chemotherapy-related acute and delayed nausea: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Advanced online publication.
To determine the effectiveness of acupressure in the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV)
Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: use of P6 acupressure wristband, sham acupressure wristband, or usual care only.
Prior to randomization, subjects were stratified by age group, gender, and emetogenicity of planned chemotherapy. Patients were instructed to wear wristbands on both arms from the morning before chemotherapy administration and for the following 6 days, and to only remove them for showering or bathing.
All patients received antiemetics based on American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) guidelines with the exception that NK1 receptor antagonists were not used with highly emetogenic chemotherapy, as these were not widely available in the country.
All patients had rescue antiemetics available. Study questionnaires were completed on day 10 of each cycle. Patients graded nausea daily.
The study was conducted at multiple outpatient sites in the United Kingdom.
All patients were in active antitumor treatment.
This was a randomized controlled trial.
Measurement tools used were
P6 acupressure was not shown to have a significant impact on prevention of CINV. Findings suggest a potential placebo effect with both acupressure and sham acupressure wristbands.
Findings did not show a significant effect of P6 acupressure on CINV; however, use of an actual and sham acupressure wristband may have a placebo effect.