Clinical trial of electroacupuncture at Neimadian-point for cancer pain

Abstract

To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) at Neimadian-point for cancer pain. A total of 140 cancer patients with pain were randomly divided into EA and control groups, with 70 cases in each group. The patients of the EA group received EA at Neimadian-point plus analgesia pump (all prepared with normal saline). The patients of the control group were treated by Sufentanil patient-controlled intravenous analgesia plus sham EA (without stimulation). The treatment was conducted once daily for two days at 8 o'clock every morning. Respectively, in 1 h before treatment (T0), 1 h (T1), 8 h (T2), 24 h (T3) after treatment of the first day, 1 h (T4), 8 h (T5), 24 h (T6) after treatment of the second day, the visual analogue scale (VAS) score of pain, and the plasma levels of norepinephrine, 5-HT, leucine enkephalin, β-endorphin and dynorphin A1-13 were tested. The security level (1-4 grade) was assessed during the treatment. Compared with their own pre-treatment, in T1 to T6, the VAS scores, and the contents of plasma norepinephrine and 5-HT obviously decreased in both groups （P<0.05）, and the contents of leucine enkephalin, β-endorphin and dynorphin A1-13 all increased (P<0.05) in the EA group. The analgesia effects were significantly higher in the EA group than in the control group in T1, T2, T4 and T5 (P<0.05,P<0.01). The therapeutic effect of EA at Neimadian-point was significantly superior to that of the Sufentanil in down-regulating plasma norepinephrine and 5-HT levels, and in up-regulating leucine enkephalin, β-endorphin and dynorphin A1-13 levels (P<0.05,P<0.01). EA at Neimadian-point can effectively relieve the pain of cancer patients and improve their quality of daily life.