Acupuncture for the prevention of chemotherapy‐induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Yan Y, López‐Alcalde J, Zhang L, Siebenhüner AR, Witt CM, Barth J · Cancer Medicine · 2023 May 24

Objective

To assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) and explore sources of between-study variation in treatment effects.

Conclusions

Acupuncture, when added to usual care, may increase the complete control of chemotherapy-induced acute vomiting and delayed vomiting compared to usual care alone. However, the certainty of evidence was generally low or very low, and well-designed randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes and standardized treatment regimens are needed to draw more definitive conclusions.

Critical Appraisal

Published research can offer valuable insights, but a paper’s conclusions may go beyond what its results support. Critical appraisal examines the methods, findings and limitations to clarify what can reasonably be concluded—and what remains uncertain.

This article has not yet been critically appraised by the Research Hub.

Learn more about Critical Appraisal