Effects of herbal fumigation combined with acupoint application on the pain management in lung cancer patients

Abstract

Objective To observe the clinical effects of herbal fumigation for promoting blood circulation and dredging collaterals combined with acupoint application on the pain management in lung cancer patients. Methods A total of 80 lung cancer patients in the Respiratory Medicine Department of Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital from May 2013 to May 2016 were selected and randomly divided into observation group and control group by random number table method, with 40 cases in each group. The patients in the control group were given 3-stage routine analgesic treatment, while the patients in the observation group received herbal fumigation combined with acupoint application on the basis of routine nursing. The curative effect, adverse reaction and daily living ability were evaluated after 1-week treatment. Results There were 35 effective cases of pain relief in the observation group with a total effective rate 87%; and 22 effective cases in the control group with a total effective rate 55%. The curative effect of the observation group was better than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=10.31, P<0.01) . The incidence of adverse reaction of the observation group is lower than that of the control group (χ2=5.70, P<0.05) . The number of patients with normal daily living ability in the two groups significantly increased than that before the analgesic treatment (P<0.05) . While, after the intervention, the number of patients with normal daily living ability in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (χ2=4.07, P<0.05) . Conclusions Herbal fumigation combined with acupoint application can significantly improve the curative effect, reduce the occurrence of adverse reactions and improve the quality of life in patients with lung cancer. Key words: Pain; Lung neoplasms; Promoting blood circulation and dredging collaterals recipe; Chinese medicine fumigation combined with acupoint application