title: The effectiveness of dry-cupping in preventing post-operative nausea and vomiting by P6 acupoint stimulation: A randomized controlled trial.
abstract: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a common complication after general anesthesia, and the prevalence ranges between 25% and 30%. The aim of this study was to determine the preventive effects of dry cupping on PONV by stimulating point P6 in the wrist.
  
  
  
  This was a randomized controlled trial conducted at the Imam Reza Hospital in Kermanshah, Iran. The final study sample included 206 patients (107 experimental and 99 controls). Inclusion criteria included the following: female sex; age>18 years; ASA Class I-II; type of surgery: laparoscopic cholecystectomy; type of anesthesia: general anesthesia. Exclusion criteria included: change in the type of surgery, that is, from laparoscopic cholecystectomy to laparotomy, and ASA-classification III or more. Interventions are as follows: pre surgery, before the induction of anesthesia, the experimental group received dry cupping on point P6 of the dominant hand's wrist with activation of intermittent negative pressure. The sham group received cupping without activation of negative pressure at the same point. Main outcome was that the visual analogue scale was used to measure the severity of PONV.
  
  
  
  The experimental group who received dry cupping had significantly lower levels of PONV severity after surgery (P < 0.001) than the control group. The differences in measure were maintained after controlling for age and ASA in regression models (P < 0.01).
  
  
  
  Traditional dry cupping delivered in an operation room setting prevented PONV in laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Management Department of Surgery, Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran Department of Psychiatry, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA..
authors.forename: Khosro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Farhadi
authors.forename: Mansour
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Choubsaz
authors.forename: Khosro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Setayeshi
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kameli
authors.forename: Shahrzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bazargan-Hejazi
authors.forename: Zahra H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Zadie
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000328:Adult; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020250:Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014953:Wrist