Acupuncture in the Postoperative Setting for Breast Cancer Patients: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

Acupuncture is used to treat a variety of symptoms and conditions associated with cancer and cancer treatments. The present study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of providing acupuncture in the hospital setting for breast cancer patients and to evaluate the short-term effect of acupuncture on stress, anxiety, and pain. This was an open label study conducted at Mayo Clinic Hospital, Methodist and Saint Marys Campus, Rochester, Minnesota. A total of 20 adult breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy and/or breast reconstruction were recruited and offered daily acupuncture intervention beginning postoperative day 1 and continuing for the duration of the hospital stay. Outcome measures included the Symptom Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Satisfaction Question and Was-it-Worth-it (WIWI) Questionnaire. It was found that acupuncture is a feasible option for postoperative breast cancer patients. In addition, it can significantly decrease the levels of anxiety (p = 0.0065), tension/muscular discomfort (p < 0.001) and pain (p = 0.023). The association between acupuncture and relaxation was found to be statistically borderline (p = 0.053). This feasibility study showed that acupuncture can be integrated into a busy postsurgical clinical practice. These results also suggest that acupuncture may be an important intervention in the postoperative setting for breast cancer patients.

Assessing the Impact of Acupuncture on Pain, Nausea, Anxiety, and Coping in Women Undergoing a Mastectomy

“…Other limitations of the study are its small sample size and lack of diversity. The results of this study, along with the results of the Mallory et al (2015) and Mehling et al (2007) studies, provide support for additional studies with a larger sample sizes to evaluate acupuncture for symptoms following surgery for Note. All p values were calculated from paired t tests comparing pre-and postintervention and pre-and post-standard care outcome scores.…”

“…Mehling et al (2007) did a study with delivery of acupuncture to patients with cancer on postoperative days one and two that assessed the effects of acupuncture and massage. Although Mallory et al (2015) also examined women postoperatively, the researchers did not identify the number of days the patients were in the hospital or how many days the patient received acupuncture. The outcomes from the current study support that acupuncture can be delivered in patients with a shortened length of hospital stay.…”

“…Other researchers also demonstrated reductions in pain for patients following surgery for cancer, including abdominal, pelvic, prostate, testicular, bladder, kidney, breast cancer, or head and neck cancer (Mallory et al, 2015;Mehling et al, 2007;Pfister et al, 2010). Pain management for postoperative pain with medication is not without risks from possible side effects.…”

“…Patients who received acupuncture and massage had decreased pain and depressive mood compared to usual care. Similarly, Mallory et al (2015) examined 20 adult patients with breast cancer undergoing a mastectomy and/or breast reconstruction who received acupuncture starting postoperative day one until discharge. In this descriptive study, anxiety, pain, relaxation, and muscular tension were measured before and after the acupuncture treatment, with significant reductions in all symptoms except relaxation.…”

Revisão integrativa: a acupuntura no tratamento da ansiedade e estresse em mulheres com câncer de mama

“…Fonte: As autoras (2017). 21 A inclusão do artigo descritivo com metodologia qualitativa de Peter et al 23 pode ampliar o universo de percepções acerca do tratamento com acupuntura em mulheres com câncer de mama.…”