Effect of Adding Electroacupuncture to Standard Triple Antiemetic Therapy on Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Abstract
PURPOSE We aim to determine the effectiveness of adding electroacupuncture to standard triple antiemetic therapy for treating chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). METHODS From March 2022 to December 2023, a randomized, blind, sham-controlled trial conducted across six Chinese hospitals investigated patients with breast cancer undergoing highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC). Patients were randomly assigned to either true electroacupuncture (n = 120) or sham electroacupuncture (n = 119) groups, with both groups receiving standard triple antiemetic therapy. The primary end point was the proportion of complete protection (no vomiting, no need for rescue treatment, and no significant nausea, as evaluated using the visual analog scale [VAS]) within 120 hours after receiving HEC. RESULTS Among 239 randomly assigned patients, 235 (98.3%) completed the trial. In the full analysis set, compared with the sham electroacupuncture group, the true electroacupuncture group demonstrated a significant increase in the complete protection rate from 34.5% to 52.9% (P = .004). Additionally, true electroacupuncture also showed enhanced total control (4.3% v 13.4%; P = .014), no significant nausea (37.9% v 58.8%; P = .001), no nausea (4.3% v 13.4%; P = .014), and nausea VAS score = 0 mm (4.3% v 12.6%; P = .023). However, the occurrence of no vomiting in the overall stage was similar (76.7% v 73.9%; P = .622) in both groups. Post hoc exploratory analysis showed a significantly higher…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 239 participants or records.
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