CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Jacobs B, Mehling W, Acree M, West J, Acquah J, Burns
B, Chapman J, Hecht F.
Acupuncture and massage reduce post-operative pain among
cancer patients: a randomized controlled pilot study.
Osher Center for Integrative Medicine University
of California, San Francisco jacobsb@ocim.ucsf.edu
PURPOSE: Although prior studies support the
use of acupuncture for post-operative pain, vomiting, and anxiety and
of massage for symptom management in cancer patients, there are no studies
evaluating potential benefits of a combination of acupuncture and massage
for symptom management among hospitalized cancer patients immediately
following surgery. The purpose of this study is to obtain pilot data
on the effectiveness of an inpatient peri-operative integrative medicine
service (PIMS) comprised of acupuncture and massage in caring for hospitalized
cancer surgery patients in an academic medical center.
METHODS: 106 patients undergoing cancer related
surgeries at the UCSF Cancer Center were randomly assigned (2:1) to
receive either acupuncture and massage on post-operative days (POD)
1 and 2 (69 patients) or usual care alone (37 patients). The primary
outcome is the between-group difference in the change in pain severity
(numeric rating scale 0-10) from baseline to post-operative day #3.
Analyses used t-tests and ANCOVA controlling for baseline values. Secondary
outcomes include nausea severity, number of vomiting episodes, and mood
(tension/anxiety and depression Profile of Mood sub-Scales).
RESULTS: Groups were similar at baseline. Among
patients with moderate to severe pain at baseline (³3), pain severity
between POD#3 and baseline decreased 1.9 points (±1.6) for the intervention
group compared with 1.0 points (±2.5) for the usual care group (between-group
difference p=0.01). Among patients with any nausea during study period,
changes in nausea severity (numeric rating scale 0-10) decreased 3.8
points for the intervention group versus 1.6 points for usual care (p
= 0.25). The number of vomiting episodes among patients with any vomiting
was not compared due to the small number of patients with post-operative
vomiting (n=3 in control group). Tension/anxiety and depression scores
(5-point Likert scale) changed by -0.4 and -0.4 in the intervention
group compared with +0.1 and -0.1 points for the usual care group (p=0.03
and p= 0.007, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Compared with usual care alone,
the provision of inpatient acupuncture and massage was associated with
less post-operative pain, anxiety and depression; and was not associated
with less nausea among this sample of hospitalized cancer surgery patients.
These findings support the need for larger clinical trials to assess
the effect of this intervention compared with attention controls.
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