Table 3.
Acupuncture therapy versus postoperative care for time to first bowel sounds.
| Treatment type, cancer, participants (number) | Acupuncture therapy | Effect Size MD [95% CI] | Study ID No.† |
|---|---|---|---|
| hours, I 2 | |||
| Open surgery, FTP, rectal cancer (84) | Manual acup. | -7.40 [-7.97, -6.83]∗ | 11 |
|
| |||
| Open surgery, FTP,1 CRC (30) | Manual acup. | 0.00 [-4.04, 4.04] | 13 |
|
| |||
| Open radical surgery,2 CRC (60) | Manual acup. | -5.68 [-8.47, -2.89]∗ | 14.1 (T1) |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (174) 3 RCTs | Manual acup. | -4.83 [-8.47, -1.20]∗ 85.5% | 11, 13, 14 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery, CRC (40) | Electro-acup. | -18.00 [-22.11, -13.89]∗ | 9 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery, CRC (60) | Electro-acup. | -3.31 [-6.40, -0.22]∗ | 17 |
|
| |||
| Open radical surgery,2 CRC (60) | Electro-acup. | -8.36 [-11.24, -5.49]∗ | 14.2 (T2) |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (160) 3 RCTs | Electro-acup. | -9.77 [-17.35, -2.20]∗ 93.6% | 9, 14, 17 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery,2 CRC (80) | Acupressure | -10.23 [-12.18, -8.28]∗ | 20 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery, CRC (70) | Warm needling | -12.20 [-16.66, -7.74]∗ | 19 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (454) 7 RCTs | Manual, electro-, acupressure, warm needling | -8.06 [-10.65, -5.47]∗ 88% | 9, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery, CRC (76) | Manual acup. plus ear acupressure 3 | -9.00 [-11.18, -6.82]∗ | 10 |
|
| |||
| Usual surgery, CRC (80) | Acupressure plus ear acupressure | -8.63 [-11.87, -5.39]∗ | 22 |
|
| |||
| Dixon surgery, rectal cancer (80) | Moxa plus ear acupressure | -14.77 [-20.59, -8.95]∗ | 3 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (236) 3 RCTs | Manual acup./ moxa plus ear acupressure | -9.79 [-12.42, -7.17]∗ 44.7% | 3, 10, 22 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (690) 10 RCTs | All acup., acupressure, moxa on trad. points | -8.61 [-10.60, -6.61]∗ 84.8% | 3, 9-11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 22 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery,2 CRC (78) | Ear acupressure | -8.51 [-9.94, -7.08]∗ | 5 |
|
| |||
| Usual surgery, colon cancer (60) | Ear acupressure | -4.83 [-8.25, -1.41]∗ | 12 |
|
| |||
| Open radical surgery, rectal cancer (160) | Ear acupressure | -2.09 [-3.61, -0.57]∗ | 4 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (298) 3 RCTs | Ear acupressure | -5.16 [-9.81, -0.51]∗ 94.5% | 4, 5, 12 |
|
| |||
| Total pool (988) 13 RCTs | All acupuncture therapies | -7.78 [-9.55, -6.01]∗ 89.0% | All above |
∗ means statistically significant; † see Table 1; 1: acupuncture began 24 hours after surgery; 2: excluding Miles surgery; 3: using sensitive ear points.
CI, Confidence Interval; MD, mean difference; moxa, moxibustion; trad., traditional.