Acupuncture and BCRL

Stimulated by Lee et al 2024.[1] Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com BCRL – breast cancer-related lymphoedemaBMI – body mass indexNHIS – national health insurance servicePSM – propensity score matchingIRR – incident rate ratioCI – confidence intervalHR – hazard ratio key to acronyms This is another large retrospective cohort study from Korea. The difference from … Continue reading Acupuncture and BCRL

Does sham point location matter 2

Stimulated by Lee et al 2023.[1] SR – systematic reviewNMA – network meta-analysisKIOM – Korean Institute of Oriental MedicineSATS – sham acupuncture therapy sham pointSATV – sham acupuncture therapy verum pointIPDM – individual patient data meta-analysisEBM – evidence based medicineSMD – standardised mean differenceCI – confidence interval key to acronyms I guess it was inevitable … Continue reading Does sham point location matter 2

TEAS vs dexamethasone in PONV

Stimulated by Zhang et al 2023.[1] Diagram by MC illustrating TEAS applied to PC6 in a patient following breast surgery. TEAS – transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (ie a form of TENS)TENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationPONV – post-operative nausea and vomitingCI – confidence intervalIV – intravenous key to acronyms This paper came out in June … Continue reading TEAS vs dexamethasone in PONV

Acupuncture vs massage – IMPACT

Stimulated by Epstein et al 2023.[1] Visual abstract... IMPACT – Integrative Medicine for Pain in Patients with Advanced Cancer TrialMSKCC – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterPEACE – Personalised EA vs AA Comparative EffectivenessMSK – musculoskeletalRCT – randomised controlled trialBPI – short form brief pain inventory key to acronyms This trial was based at MSKCC and … Continue reading Acupuncture vs massage – IMPACT

EA and COMT Val158Met 2023

Stimulated by Yang et al 2023.[1] Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com.You might expect this sort of character to be Val Val ie homozygous for guanine at codon 158 of the COMT gene. EA – electroacupunctureAA – auricular acupunctureCOMT – catechol-o-methyltransferaseMSK – musculoskeletalBFA – battlefield acupuncture (an AA protocol – See: Ears and the battlefield)rs – … Continue reading EA and COMT Val158Met 2023

EA for OIC

Stimulated by Wang et al 2023.[1] EA protocol used for OIC in Wang et al 2023.[1]Diagram by MC. EA – electroacupunctureOIC – opioid-induced constipationCSFC – chronic severe functional constipation5-HT – 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin)TEAS – TENS applied to acupuncture points (ie TENS)TENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationSCC – severe chronic constipationCSBM – complete spontaneous bowel movementSBM – … Continue reading EA for OIC

Acupuncture vs massage in cancer pain

Inspired by Romero et al 2022.[1] Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com MSKCC – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterMA – manual acupunctureEA – electroacupunctureBPI – brief pain inventoryIMPACT – Integrative Medicine for Pain in Patients with Advanced Cancer Trial key to acronyms This is a protocol for a large-scale comparative effectiveness trial in a cancer … Continue reading Acupuncture vs massage in cancer pain

Aromatase inhibitors, joint pain and acupuncture 2022

Inspired by Hershman et al JAMA Network Open 2022.[1] AI – aromatase inhibitorBPI – brief pain inventoryBPI-WP – brief pain inventory worst pain key to acronyms When this paper popped up on my searches, I was surprised to find that I had not written about AI-related joint pain since the JAMA paper by the same … Continue reading Aromatase inhibitors, joint pain and acupuncture 2022

EA for CIPN 2022

Inspired by Chan et al 2022.[1] Photo by How-Soon Ngu on Unsplash. EA – electroacupunctureMA – manual acupunctureCIPN – chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathyAiM – Acupuncture in MedicineFACT/GOG-Ntx – Functional Assessment of Chronic illness Therapy (Gynecologic Oncology Group) Neurotoxicity subscaleMSKCC – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center key to acronyms This week we stay on the topic of … Continue reading EA for CIPN 2022

EA for ERAS 2022

Inspired by Wang et al 2022.[1] EA protocol used in Wang et al 2022 (left), and what I would do in the same circumstances (right). EA – electroacupunctureERAS – enhanced recovery after surgeryPOI – postoperative ileusMA – manual acupunctureTEAS – transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (a form of TENS)TTNS – transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (a form … Continue reading EA for ERAS 2022