Alkaissi 2002.
Methods | Parallel‐group randomized trial, conducted in Sweden. Study dates not reported. | |
Participants | 410 women undergoing elective gynaecological surgery. No exclusion criteria specified. 30 participants were withdrawn because they were: given local anaesthesia (n = 12), or an antiemetic was given without the criteria for treatment of PONV being met (n = 14), malignant hyperthermia (n = 1), allergy to latex (n = 2), and could not read Swedish (n = 1). These 30 participants were replaced by another 30 at the end of the study period. | |
Interventions | Acupressure wristband placed on P6 point on both forearms just before start of anaesthesia, left on for 24 h (n = 135). Sham group included acupressure wristbands at non‐acupoint on both forearms just before start of anaesthesia, left on for 24 h (n = 139). Reference group received no prophylactic treatment and was not blinded (n = 136). |
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Outcomes | Nausea (0 ‐ 24 h), vomiting (0 ‐ 24 h), side effects of acupressure, risk of rescue antiemetic (type of drug not described). | |
Notes | Reference group received no treatment and were not included in data analysis. Adverse effects: wristbands felt uncomfortable, produced red indentation, or caused itching, headache and dizziness, or wrists hurt and tightness of wristband caused swelling or deep marks or blistering at site of stud. Financial support was provided by the County Council of Östergötland (Project F98‐305) Sweden. No details about any declarations of interest among authors. |
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Risk of bias | ||
Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
Random sequence generation (selection bias) | Unclear risk | Insufficient information. |
Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Unclear risk | Insufficient information. |
Blinding of patients (performance bias) All outcomes | Low risk | "The wrists were wrapped for blinding". Participants reported outcomes. |
Blinding of healthcare providers (performance bias) All outcomes | Unclear risk | Insufficient information. |
Blinding of outcome assessor (detection bias) All outcomes | Low risk | "The wrists were wrapped for blinding". Participants reported outcomes. |
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | Low risk | Reasons were given for 30 dropouts, who were replaced by randomising another 30 participants at the end of the study. "Withdrawals were evenly distributed between the groups." No missing data reported for 410 participants analysed. |
Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Low risk | All expected outcomes reported. |
Other bias | Low risk | Demographic data appeared to be comparable in Table 2. |