Institute for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Center for Integrative Medicine, Kantonsspital St Gallen, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, Sankt Gallen, Switzerland.
BMJ Open. 2023 Mar 10;13(3):e066137. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066137.
Dysgeusia is a common side effect of chemotherapy in patients with cancer, but to date, there is no effective treatment. Many patients with cancer request complementary medicine treatment in addition to their cancer treatments, and acupuncture is highly accepted for patients with cancer; however, evidence regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for dysgeusia is scarce.The study investigates the effectiveness of an additional dysgeusia-specific acupuncture plus self-acupressure intervention compared with supportive acupuncture plus self-acupressure intervention alone for chemotherapy-induced dysgeusia in patients with cancer.
This is a multicentre, randomised, controlled and two-armed parallel-group, single-blind trial involving 130 patients. Both groups will receive eight sessions of acupuncture treatment over a period of 8 weeks and will be trained to perform self-acupressure (eLearning combined with therapist instruction) at predefined acupressure points once a day during the whole treatment period. Patients in the control group will receive supportive routine care acupuncture and self-acupressure treatment only; in addition to this treatment, the intervention group will receive the dysgeusia-specific acupuncture and acupressure within the same treatment session. The primary outcome is the perceived dysgeusia over 8 weeks, measured weekly after the acupuncture treatment. Secondary outcomes include the indices from the objective taste and smell test, weight loss, perceived dysgeusia, fatigue, distress, nausea and vomiting, odynophagia, xerostomia and polyneuropathy, as well as quality of life at the different time points.
The study has been approved by the Cantonal Ethics Committee (CEC) (Kanton Zürich Kantonale Ethikkommission) (approval no. KEK-ZH-Nr. 2020-01900). The results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.
DRKS00023348, SNCTP000004128.
味觉障碍是癌症患者化疗的常见副作用，但迄今为止，尚无有效的治疗方法。许多癌症患者除了癌症治疗外，还要求接受补充医学治疗，而针灸在癌症患者中被高度接受；然而，关于针灸治疗味觉障碍的疗效证据很少。本研究调查了针对化疗引起的味觉障碍的专门的味觉障碍加自我穴位按压干预与单纯的支持性针灸加自我穴位按压干预相比，对癌症患者的额外疗效。
这是一项多中心、随机、对照、双臂平行组、单盲试验，涉及 130 名患者。两组患者将接受 8 个疗程的针灸治疗，为期 8 周，并接受培训，在整个治疗期间每天在预定的穴位按压点进行自我穴位按压（结合治疗师指导的电子学习）。对照组仅接受支持性常规护理针灸和自我穴位按压治疗；除了这种治疗，干预组还将在同一治疗疗程中接受专门针对味觉障碍的针灸和穴位按压。主要结果是 8 周内感知的味觉障碍，每周在针灸治疗后测量一次。次要结果包括客观味觉和嗅觉测试的指标、体重减轻、感知的味觉障碍、疲劳、苦恼、恶心和呕吐、吞咽困难、口干和多发性神经病，以及不同时间点的生活质量。
该研究已获得州伦理委员会（CEC）（苏黎世州州伦理委员会）（批准号 KEK-ZH-Nr. 2020-01900）的批准。研究结果将提交给同行评审的期刊发表。
DRKS00023348，SNCT000004128。
