Acupuncture to treat pain after neck disscetion
Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City studied whether acupuncture reduces pain and dysfunction in patients with squamous cell cancer and a history of neck dissection (photo) — a surgical procedure used to control neck lymph node metastasis.
First, the details.
- 58 patients with chronic pain or dysfunction attributed to neck dissection were randomly assigned to a treatment group for 4 weeks.
- Acupuncture weekly
- Usual care (eg, physical therapy, use of pain medicine and/or anti-inflammatory drugs, per patient preference or physician recommendation).
- The Constant-Murley score, a composite measure of pain, function, and activities of daily living, was recorded.
- Xerostomia (dry mouth due to a lack of saliva) was also assessed.
And, the results.
- Constant-Murley scores improved significantly more in the acupuncture group.
- Acupuncture produced significantly greater improvement in reported xerostomia.
The bottom line?
The authors concluded, “Although further study is needed, these data support the potential role of acupuncture in addressing post-neck dissection pain and dysfunction, as well as xerostomia.”
4/22/10 20:45 JR