Is Acupuncture Able to Reduce Nausea and Vomiting in the Terminal Ill Patient
Is Acupuncture Able to Reduce Nausea and Vomiting in the Terminal Ill Patient
A comparative effectiveness research design was used. The sample size was calculated to 136
 patients, who were randomized to an intervention group and a control group respectively. The
 patients were terminal ill patients enrolled to three in-bed hospices in Denmark and nausea
 and vomiting were measured using EORTC QlQ-c15-PAL (European Organisation for Research and
 Treatment of Cancer, Quality of Life Questionaire, core 15, Palliation)
The terminal ill patient is suffering from many different symptoms. In total 70% are
 suffering from nausea and vomiting due to the wide spread of cancer or due to side effects of
 treatment. Often the antiemetic's are not able to reduce symptoms to a level that enable the
 patient to experience quality in life in the last days of his life. The investigators had
 some experience with acupuncture as a complementary therapy but the investigators wanted more
 systematically to investigate if acupuncture is able to reduce the terminal ill patient´s
 nausea and vomiting. Literature show that acupuncture is able to reduce nausea and vomiting
 in patients receiving chemotherapy, but there is no literature that support the ability of
 acupuncture to reduce nausea and vomiting in the terminal ill patient.

 The purpose of this study was to generate evidence based knowledge close to practice
 regarding the effect of acupuncture in reducing nausea and vomiting in the terminal ill
 patient.

 Participants:

 Terminal ill patients suffering from nausea and/or vomiting

 Interventions:

 The intervention group received usual care plus acupuncture for three days. The acupuncture
 spots: Pericardium-6, Stomach-36, Liver-3 and Yin Tang were used. The control group received
 usual care.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Able to participate due to cognitive ability

 -  Nausea

 -  Admitted to in-bed hospice

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Not able to participate due to cognitive impairment

 -  Lymphedema in the area of acupuncture site