Acupuncture and acupressure may help alleviate pain and anxiety in patients undergoing surgery for gynecologic cancer

Patients undergoing surgery for ovarian and endometrial cancers often experience anxiety and pain. A new study indicates that acupressure before surgery may help reduce anxiety and following this up with acupuncture during surgery may provide an added benefit of lessening severe pain. The research is published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

A total of 99 patients with gynecologic cancers participated in the study co-led by Eran Ben-Arye, MD, of Lin Medical Center, in Haifa, Israel-45 in Group A, 25 in Group B, and 29 in Group C. Group A participants received acupressure-related touch and relaxation treatments that began within 3 hours prior to surgery and continued until the patient began undergoing general anesthesia; they then received acupuncture therapy during surgery involving points shown to be effective for reducing pain. Group B participants received preoperative acupressure only, and group C participants received standard care. Both before and after surgery, patients completed questionnaires that scored the quality of their recovery and included questions about pain, anxiety, and other quality-of-life parameters.