ACUPUNCTURE AND POSTOPERATIVE NAUSEA AND VOMITING

Postoperative nausea and vomiting affects 30% of general surgery patients, and in high-risk patients can occur in up to 80%. This is the leading cause of failed discharge and hospital readmission. Females are at greater risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), as are those with a history of previous incidence or motion sickness. Many patients find PONV a worse experience than postoperative pain. Preventing PONV is also seen as economically beneficial for institutions.

Acupuncture is the most-studied non-pharmacological treatment approach, and the World Health Organisation declared that appoint stimulation is comparable with intravenous antiemtics.

A recent study by Ferrari et al at the Humanitas Research Hospital in Milan looked at the effects of acupuncture on patients between May 2011 and March 2012. Three hundred patients were included in the study, 29% of them outpatients. The treatments were carried out by anaesthetists who were trained for the specific task by acupuncturists and involved the use of the acupuncture point Pericardium 6 (or Nei Guan). Training involved the correct location of this use point and appropriate technique for stimulation in different people. Treatment began before the surgical procedure.

The results of the study illustrated overwhelmingly the efficacy of stimulation of this acupuncture point in preventing PONV.