title: Acupuncture compared with placebo acupuncture in radiotherapy-induced nausea--a randomized controlled study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is not known if verum (real) acupuncture is effective for nausea and vomiting (emesis) during radiotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We randomly treated 215 blinded cancer patients with verum: penetrating 'deqi' creating acupuncture (n = 109) or non-penetrating sham needles (n = 106) two to three times per week. The patients documented emesis daily during the radiotherapy period. Primary end point was the number of patients with at least one episode of nausea.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the verum and the sham acupuncture group, 70% and 62% experienced nausea at least once during the radiotherapy period (relative risk 1.1, 95% CI 0.9-1.4) for a mean number of 10.1 and 8.7 days. Twenty five percent and 28% vomited, and 42% and 37% used antiemetic drugs at least once, respectively. Ninety-five percent in the verum acupuncture group and 96% in the sham acupuncture group believed that the treatment had been effective against nausea. In both groups, 67% experienced positive effects on relaxation, mood, sleep or pain reduction and 89% wished to receive the treatment again.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acupuncture creating deqi is not more effective than sham in radiotherapy-induced nausea, but in this study, nearly all patients in both groups experienced that the treatment was effective for nausea.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nursing Science, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping; The Swedish Institute for Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Osher Centre for Integrative Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm. Electronic address: anna.enblom@ki.se.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Enblom
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Lund.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Johnsson
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hammar
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Onelöv
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm; Division of Clinical Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Steineck
authors.affiliation: Division of Nursing Science, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping; Centre of Surgery and Oncology, Department of Oncology, Linköping University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Börjeson
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture / Q000379:methods; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010919:Placebos; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos