Wang, C., Tan, W., Huang, X., Fu, T., Lin, J., Bu, J., . . . Du, Y. (2013). Curative effect of Dingqi analgesic patch on cancer pain: A single-blind randomized controlled trail. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 33, 176–180.
To observe the curative effect of an acupoint application with a Dingqi analgesic patch on moderate-to-severe pain caused by liver cancer
Patients were randomized to a control or a treatment group. Patients with visual analog scale (VAS) scores of 4–6 were given 100 mg sustained-release tramadol daily. Those with VAS scores of 7–10 were given 4.2 mg fentanyl transdermal every three days. The treatment group was given the acupoint patch consisting of a mixture of traditional Chinese herbs on one to two pain points. The control group was given the same size patch without medication. The VAS scores were assessed at intervals throughout the 12 days of treatment.
Findings suggest that the Dingqi patch might be helpful in pain management; however, this study provides very limited support for this approach.
This study does not provide evidence in support of the use of this analgesic patch for pain.