Stimulated by Psutka et al 2024.[1] BCG – Bacillus Calmette-GuérinTB – tuberculosisIF – impact factorNMIBC – non-muscle-invasive bladder cancerEA – electroacupunctureUTI – urinary tract infectionPROMs – patient-reported outcome measures – key to acronyms The title of this paper captured my attention because a colleague had undergone BCG instillation into the bladder to treat bladder cancer … Continue reading Acupuncture and BCG 2024
Category: Cancer care
Acupuncture for chronic RIX
Stimulated by Cohen et al 2024.[1] Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com RIX – Radiotherapy-Induced XerostomiaIF – impact factorSOH – standard oral hygieneRTOG – radiation therapy oncology groupXQ – Xerostomia QuestionnaireFACT-G – Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – GeneralQoL – quality of life – key to acronyms This paper was published on 13th May in JAMA … Continue reading Acupuncture for chronic RIX
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










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