An American randomised trial studying acupuncture for postoperative nausea, has shown that children receiving the treatment alongside anti-sickness medication, are less likely to experience symptoms. A total of 161 children aged 3 to 9 and undergoing tonsillectomy, were randomised to receive either acupuncture plus antiemetic drugs, or antiemetics alone. Acupuncture consisted of needling the well-known point Neiguan on each wrist.
During phases 1 and 2 of recovery, the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting was 7% in the acupuncture group and 35% in the group on medication alone. This was mainly due to the reduction in nausea. Vomiting was no different between the two groups. The day after surgery, nausea and vomiting was 36% in the acupuncture group and 49% in the medication only group.
(Randomized trial of acupuncture with antiemetics for reducing postoperative nausea in children. Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica , 6 November 2018.)
Author: Robin Costello
I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training.
I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.
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