Acupuncture Combined with Three-Step Analgesic Drug Therapy for Treatment of Cancer Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Clinical Trials
Li D, Su Y, Fan H, Guo N, Sun C · Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · 2021 July 26
DOI 10.1155/2021/5558590
Objective
To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with the WHO three-step analgesic drug ladder for cancer pain.
Conclusions
This review suggests that acupuncture combined with three-step analgesic drugs has specific advantages over three-step analgesic drugs alone in the treatment of cancer pain. Compared with three-step analgesia alone, acupuncture combined with three-step analgesia for cancer pain increased pain relief response rates, reduced numerical rating scale (NRS) score, side effects and burst pain rate, shortened analgesia effect onset time, and extended the duration of response.
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