Abstract
Objective: To determine the potential role of acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in helping to improve quality of life for patients ina palliative-care setting. Design: Double-blind randomized controlled trial. Setting: The Leicestershire Hospice. Patients: 15 patients admitted for symptom control. Interventions: Patients randomly allocated to receive standard treatment, standard plus acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation or standard plus placebo. Main outcome measures: EORTC QLQ-C30 Quality-of-Life Questionnaire. Results: The symptoms of pain and nausea and vomiting were not improved in this pilot study. The symptoms of fatigue showed some improvement, the relative risk of this improvement being eight times that of placebo and 16 times that of standard controls. The overall quality of life was also improved, the relative riks being twice that of placebo and 2.67 times that of standard controls. Conclusion: It is difficult to draw conclusions on the basis of such a small pilot study, but the initial indications suggesting beneficial effects in quality of life and fatigue symptoms would appear to warrant further investigation.
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