Improvement seen in severe pain, anxiety for treatment groups receiving preoperative touch/relaxation with or without intraoperative acupuncture
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Jan. 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Preoperative touch/relaxation and intraoperative acupuncture treatments are effective for reducing anxiety and pain in the gynecological oncology surgical setting, according to a study published online Jan. 17 in Cancer.
Eran Ben-Arye, M.D., from Clalit Health Services in Haifa, Israel, and colleagues randomly assigned 99 patients undergoing gynecological oncology surgery to three groups: Group A received preoperative touch/relaxation techniques followed by intraoperative acupuncture; group B received preoperative touch/relaxation only; and group C (control) received standard care (45, 25, and 29 patients, respectively). The Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCAW) and Quality of Recovery (QOR-15) questionnaires were used to score pain and anxiety before and after surgery; Part B of the QOR was used to assess pain, anxiety, and other quality-of-life parameters.
The researchers found that compared with controls, treatment groups (A and B) had significantly higher postoperative QOR-Part B scores, including for severe pain and anxiety. Compared with controls, group A had between-group improvement for severe pain. The intervention groups had within-group improvement for QOR depression subscales. Group A had better improvement of MYCAW-reported concerns compared with group B.
“The inclusion of preoperative integrative medical touch and relaxation therapies for anxiety, along with intraoperative acupuncture for pain and other quality of life-related concerns, should be considered for patients undergoing gynecological oncology surgery,” Ben-Arye said in a statement.
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