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The purpose of this study is to see whether acupuncture may help patients recover from colon cancer surgery.
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Postoperative ileus contributes to prolonged hospital stay, readmission and postoperative morbidities in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Reduction of postoperative ileus is important in postoperative recovery. Postoperative pain may require opioids, which further reduce gastrointestinal (GI) motility. Postoperative nausea and vomiting hamper the resumption of oral intake. Together, these three common postoperative problems contribute to patient discomfort, delayed discharge and increased overall hospitalization costs, despite current multi-modal management options. Any safe and effective therapy in addition to current standard of care would be welcomed by patients, surgeons and hospitals.
Acupuncture is a complementary medicine modality shown to reduce postoperative pain, suppress nausea and vomiting, and promote GI motility. It is associated with few adverse events. Here we propose a randomized, sham controlled phase II study to evaluate acupuncture, in addition to conventional therapy, for its safety and effectiveness in improving postoperative recovery of colorectal cancer patients undergoing segmental or subtotal colectomy. The overall objective of this developmental project is to determine whether a more extended research project is warranted.
The specific aims are:
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Pre-operative factors:
History of major abdominal or pelvic surgery that have caused significant alteration in anatomy and function of the GI tract which may affect the endpoints of this study.
Laparoscopic procedures. They tend to result in less postoperative ileus.
Administration of epidural anesthetics or epidural opioids: these have previously been shown to affect postoperative GI motility. They made up only 5% of colectomy patients in the investigators' institution.
Acupuncture within the last 4 weeks (to exclude any possible residual effect from acupuncture)
Contraindications to use of electrical stimulation, including cardiac pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)
Prior serious adverse event with acupuncture
Intra-operative events (these events alter the postoperative recovery course significantly):
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90 participants in 2 patient groups
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Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov
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