Reference Citation(s)	Type of Study	Condition Treated	No. of Patients: Enrolled; Treated; Controlb	Strongest Benefit Reportedc	Concurrent Therapyd	Level of Evidence Scoree
[20]	RCT	N/V related to high-dose chemotherapy for breast cancer	104; 37; 67 (sham EA or no EA)	Less N/V in EA groupf	Yes (prochlorperazine, lorazepam, and diphenhydramine)	1iiC
[18,24,25]	RCT	N/V from chemotherapy	10; 10 (EA); 10 sham EA (crossover study)	Significantly less N/V than controlg	Yes (metoclopramide)	1iiC
[21]	RCT	N/V from chemotherapy	100 (these patients were used more than once because of nature of crossover study); 27 surface electrodes; 11 rubber electrodes; 14 crossover study; 24 transcutaneous electrical stimulation	75% achieved considerable benefith	Yes (metoclopramide, thiethylperazine, prochlorperazine, cyclizine, lorazepam, and steroid)	1iiC
[28]	RCT	N/V from chemotherapy	16 (the same 16 patients treated twice in a crossover study); 16 ondansetron plus transcutaneous electrical stimulation; 16 cross-over treatment ondansetron only	Symptom-free patient days: 58.8%i	Yes (ondansetron)	1iiC
[26]	RCT	N/V from chemotherapy	53 enrolled; 38 completed; 38 acupressure; 38 crossover to acupressure at a sham point	55% reduction in N/Vj	Yes (antiemetics)	1iiC
[30]	RCT	N/V from high-dose chemotherapy	80; 41 acupuncture; 39 noninvasive placebo acupuncture	Nonek	Yes (ondansetron)	1iiC
[29]	RCT	N/V from chemotherapy	739; 233 bilateral acupressure bands and 234 transcutaneous electrical stimulation bands; 233 no bands; 39 not evaluable	Less N/V in treatment groups than in controll	Yes (5-HT3 receptor antagonist, prochlorperazine, and/or others)	1iiC
[32]	RCT	N/V from chemotherapy	36; 17 acupressure; 19 control	Significantly lower N/V	Yes (antiemetics)	1iiC
[19]	Nonrandomized controlled trial	N/V from chemotherapy	105; EA at P6	63%, complete relief, at least 8 h	Yes (metoclopramide; prednisolone)	2C
[22,24]	Consecutive case study	N/V from chemotherapy	40; 40 acupressure	8–24 h relief	Yes (not specified)	3iiC
[19]	CT	N/V from chemotherapy	43; 38 10 Hz EA; 5 sham (crossover subset)	8–10 h relief; 32 patients had complete relief	Yes (antiemetics)	2C
[27]	CT	N/V from chemotherapy	18; 18 acupressure bands; 18 (crossover study—incorrect placement of acupressure bands)	Effective for N/V	Yes (antiemetics: prochlorperazine, maxalon, and domperidone suppository)	2C
[23]	Nonconsecutive case series	N/V from chemotherapy	26; 26 acupuncture; 51 historical controls—no acupuncture	Mean no. of episodes and duration of N/V reduced	Yes (metoclopramide,dexamethasone, and diphenhydramine)	3iiiC
[18]	Nonconsecutive case series (pilot study)	N/V from chemotherapy	15; 15 EA; none	12 patients—no symptoms for 8 h	Yes (antiemetic: metoclopramide)	3iiiC
[33]	Consecutive, uncontrolled case series	N/V from chemotherapy mean no. of emesis 7–3	27; no controls	10 patients had complete response to EA and had no vomiting	Yes (antiemetics: either ondansetron 8 mg or granisetron 3 mg)	3iiiC
[31]	RCT	N/V from moderate to highly emetogenic chemotherapy	160; 96; 54	Decreased delayed N/V for acupressure	Yes; (anthracycline and cyclophosphamide and an antiemetic)	1iiC

CT = controlled trial; EA = electroacupuncture; h = hour; No. = number; N/V = nausea and vomiting; RCT = randomized controlled trial.

aSee text and the NCI Dictionary for additional information and definition of terms.

bNumber of patients treated plus number of patients control may not equal number of patients enrolled; number of patients enrolled equals number of patients initially considered by the researcher who conducted a study; number of patients treated equals number of enrolled patients who were given the treatment being studied AND for whom results were reported; historical control subjects are not included in number of patients enrolled.

cStrongest evidence reported that the treatment under study has activity or improves the well-being of cancer patients.

dConcurrent therapy for symptoms treated (not cancer).

eFor information about levels of evidence analysis and an explanation of the level of evidence scores, see Levels of Evidence for Human Studies of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

f P < .001, low-frequency EA at classical antiemetic acupuncture points daily versus minimal needling at control points with sham EA versus no adjunct needling.

g P < .001, EA versus sham EA.

h P < .001, surface electrodes versus rubber electrodes.

i P < .00059.

j P < .02, acupressure versus acupressure at a sham point.

k P < .05, acupuncture versus noninvasive placebo acupuncture.

l P < .05, acupressure and acustimulation wrist bands versus no treatment.

References

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