A Chinese medicine warm compress (Wen Jing Zhi Tong Fang), combined with WHO 3-step analgesic ladder treatment for cancer pain relief: A comparative randomized trial

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Chinese medicine warm compress (CMWC) on back meridians in relieving cancer pain, reducing adjuvant analgesic doses and adverse reactions, and improving the quality of life (QOL).Methods:A total of 62 patients (age range 39–82 years) diagnosed with a malignant tumor and suffering from cancer-related pain were randomly divided into a treatment group (group A) and a control group (group B) (n = 31 for each). The patients in both groups were administered appropriate drugs for 2 cycles of 7-day treatments according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 3-step ladder for cancer pain relief in adults. In addition, a CMWC was given to patients in group A. Pain relief was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) at various time points before and after interventions in each group. Alteration of analgesic doses, adverse reactions, performance status (PS), and QOL were evaluated and any differences between groups A and B evaluated.Results:VAS scores at various time points after treatment were significantly decreased compared with the baseline level in group A. Overall response rate was significantly improved in group A compared with group B (70.97% vs 29.03%, P 
Source: Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Tags: Research Article: Clinical Trial/Experimental Study Source Type: research