Table 5.
Acupuncture therapy versus postoperative care for time to first defecation.
| Treatment type, cancer, participants (number) | Acupuncture therapy | Effect Size MD [95% CI] I2 | Study ID No.† |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open surgery, FTP, rectal cancer (84) | Manual acup. | -22.56 [-24.36, -20.76]∗ | 11 |
|
| |||
| Open surgery, FTP1, CRC (30) | Manual acup. | -28.80 [-62.11, 4.51] | 13 |
|
| |||
| Open radical surgery2, CRC (60) | Manual acup. | -5.71 [-10.25, -1.17]∗ | 14.1 (T1) |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (174) 3 RCTs | Manual acup. | -16.30 [-31.35, -1.25]∗ 95.7% |
11, 13, 14 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery, CRC (60) | Electro-acup. | -5.16 [-7.98, -2.34]∗ | 17 |
|
| |||
| Open radical surgery2, CRC (60) | Electro-acup. | -12.96 [-16.67, -9.25]∗ | 14.2 (T2) |
|
| |||
| Intraperitoneal surgery, colon cancer (76) | Electro-acup. | -0.34 [-24.71, 24.03] | 6 |
|
| |||
| Laparoscopic surgery, CRC (110) | Electro-acup. | -36.20 [-53.26, -19.14]∗ | 7 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (306) 4 RCTs | Electro-acup. | -12.39 [-20.97, -3.81]∗ 86% | 6, 7, 14, 17 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery, colon cancer, elderly patients (60) | Manual plus electro-acup. | -3.00 [-13.32, 7.32] | 15 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery2, CRC (80) | Acupressure | -9.65 [-11.23, -8.07]∗ | 20 |
|
| |||
| Radical surgery, CRC (70) | Warm needling | -16.30 [-23.13, -9.47]∗ | 19 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (660) 9 RCTs | Manual, electro-, acupressure, warm needling | -12.68 [-18.60, -6.77]∗ 94.8% |
6, 7, 11, 13-15, 17, 19, 20 |
|
| |||
| Usual surgery, CRC (80) | Acupressure plus ear acupressure | -11.16 [-13.66, -8.66]∗ | 22 |
|
| |||
| Dixon surgery, rectal cancer (80) | Moxa plus ear acupressure | -25.47 [-33.91, -17.03]∗ | 3 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (160) 2 RCTs | Manual acup./ moxa plus ear acupressure | -17.72 [-31.70, -3.75]∗ 90.2% |
3, 22 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (820) 11 RCTs | All acup., acupressure, moxa on trad. points | -13.53 [-18.38, -8.67]∗ 94.1% |
3, 6, 7, 11, 13-15, 17, 19, 20, 22 |
|
| |||
| Usual surgery, colon cancer (60) | Ear acupressure | -9.28 [-16.73, -1.83]∗ | 12 |
|
| |||
| Open radical surgery, rectal cancer (160) | Ear acupressure | -4.08 [-6.02, -2.14]∗ | 4 |
|
| |||
| Pooled result (220) 2 RCTs | Ear acupressure | -5.38 [-9.80, -0.97]∗ 42.9% | 4, 12 |
|
| |||
| Total pool (1040) 13 RCTs | All acupuncture therapies | -12.34 [-16.84, -7.84]∗ 94.9% |
All above |
∗ means statistically significant; † see Table 1; 1: acup. began 24 hours after surgery; 2: excluding Miles surgery.
CI, Confidence Interval; MD, mean difference; moxa, moxibustion; trad., traditional.