Therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture point stimulation for stomach cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Xuancheng Zhou; Jieying Zhang; Lai Jiang; Shengke Zhang; Yuheng Gu; Jingyi Tang; Tong Pu; Xiaomin Quan; Hao Chi; Shangke Huang

doi:10.3389/fneur.2024.1334657

Therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture point stimulation for stomach cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Neurol. 2024 Apr 4:15:1334657. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1334657. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Xuancheng Zhou¹, Jieying Zhang^{2

3}, Lai Jiang¹, Shengke Zhang¹, Yuheng Gu¹, Jingyi Tang¹, Tong Pu⁴, Xiaomin Quan⁵, Hao Chi¹, Shangke Huang^#⁶

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Medical College, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
² First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
³ National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China.
⁴ College of Acupuncture and Tuina and Rehabilitation, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China.
⁵ Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Second Affiliated Dong Fang Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁶ Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine has received widespread attention in the field of cancer pain treatment. This meta-analysis is the first to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture point stimulation in the treatment of stomach cancer pain.

Methods: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, WANFANG, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Chinese Journal of Science and Technology (VIP) databases as well as forward and backward citations to studies published between database creation to July 27, 2023. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on acupuncture point stimulation for the treatment of patients with stomach cancer pain were included without language restrictions. We assessed all outcome indicators of the included trials. The evidence from the randomized controlled trials was synthesized as the standardized mean difference (SMD) of symptom change. The quality of the evidence was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. This study is registered on PROSPERO under the number CRD42023457341.

Results: Eleven RCTs were included. The study included 768 patients, split into 2 groups: acupuncture point stimulation treatment group (n = 406), medication control group (n = 372). The results showed that treatment was more effective in the acupuncture point stimulation treatment group than in the medication control group (efficacy rate, RR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.37 to 1.94, p < 0.00001), decreasing in NRS score was greater in acupuncture point stimulation treatment group than in the medication control group (SMD = -1.30, 95% CI -1.96 to -0.63, p < 0.001).

Systematic review registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier CRD42023457341.

Keywords: acupuncture point stimulation; meta-analysis; stomach cancer pain; therapeutic efficacy; traditional Chinese medicine.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This project is supported by the Doctoral Startup Fund of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University (No. 19025) and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of Southwest Medical University (No. 2023393).