Table 3.
Characteristics of the Included Studies: Ileus, Hiccup, Fever, QOL, Gastrointestinal Symptoms.
| Author | Sample Size (M/F) Cancer Type |
Intervention (n) | Control (n) | Outcome Measures | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Control | |||||
| Ileus | ||||||
| Chen et al. 2010 [31] | 120 (96/24) Rectal cancer |
Neostigmine injection (0.5 mL) at bilateral ST36 (n = 60) bid Routine post-operative therapy |
Routine post-operative therapy (n = 60) | Time that the patient first passed a bowel movement (h, mean ± SD) | 45.1 ± 8.6* | 74.7 ± 16.3 |
| Feng et al. 2007 [32] | 160 (92/68) Colon cancer |
Vit. B1 injection (50 mg) at bilateral ST36 (n = 80) on the day of surgery |
Vit. B1 (100 mg), IM (n = 80) on the day of surgery |
Time that the patient first passed a bowel movement (h, mean ± SD) | 29.6 ± 3.2 | 48.1 ± 5.3 |
|
| ||||||
| Hiccup | ||||||
| Sui and Zhang 2009 [33] | 47 (31/16) Various |
Anisodamine injection (10 mg) at ST36 (n = 25) bid |
Anisodamine (10 mg), IM (n = 22) bid |
Responder rate (%) | 76%* | 36.4% |
| Xia et al. 2000 [34] | 32 (20/12) Various |
Atropine injection (1.25 mg) at bilateral ST36, Vit. B1 (10 mg), B12 (10 mg) at bilateral BL17 (n = 16) | Atropine po (0.3 mg), tid or IM (0.5 mg) (n = 16) | Responder rate (%) | 93.8% | 68.8% |
|
| ||||||
| Fever | ||||||
| Yan et al. 1999 [35] | 28 (21/7) Various |
rIL-2 injection (50,000 μ/2 mL) at ST36 (n = 14) qd |
rIL-2 (100,000 μ/2 mL), IM (n = 14) qd |
Responder rate (%) | 85.7%* | 50% |
| Yan et al. 1997 [36] | 58 (43/15) Upper GI cancer |
Dexamethasone injection (1 mL) alternately at bilateral ST36 (n = 28) qd |
Dexamethasone (10 mg), IM (n = 30) tid |
Responder rate (%) | 89.3%** | 56.7% |
|
| ||||||
| QOL | ||||||
| Xue 2005 [37] | 108 (78/30) Various |
Huangqi injection (2 mL) alternately at bilateral ST36 (n = 60) qd |
Energy synbiotics, IV (n = 48) qd Lipid and albumin, twice a week |
Responder rate (%, Karnofsky score) | 50%** | 25% |
|
| ||||||
| GI Symptoms | ||||||
| Zhao et al. 2008 [38] | 30 (11/19) Various |
Metoclopramide injection (10 mg) at bilateral ST36 (n = 15) qd Routine chemotherapy |
Metoclopramide (10 mg), IM (n = 15) qd Routine chemotherapy |
WHO grade [30] 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 (number of patients) | Grade 0: 1 Grade 1: 6 Grade 2: 8 Grade 3: 0 Grade 4: 0 |
Grade 0: 0 Grade 1: 4 Grade 2: 9 Grade 3: 2 Grade 4: 0 |
Abbreviation: AEs: adverse events; bid: twice a day; GI: gastrointestinal; h: hour(s); IM: intramuscular injection; IV: intravenous injection; min: minute(s); NR: not reported; po: orally; qd: everyday; QOL: quality of life; rIL-2: recombinant human interleukin-2; SD: standard deviation; tid: three times a day; Vit.: vitamin; WHO: World Health Organization.
Acupuncture point ST36 refers to 36th point of stomach meridian and extra points have different nomenclature (e.g., Ex-UE7 means 7th extra point in upper extremity).
Responder rate: (number of participants with any improvement from the intervention/total number of participants) ∗ 100(%) unless stated otherwise.
*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.