Acupuncture and Related Therapies for Treatment of Postoperative Ileus in Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Acupuncture and Related Therapies for Treatment of Postoperative Ileus in Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018;2018:3178472 Authors: Liu Y, May BH, Zhang AL, Guo X, Lu C, Xue CC, Zhang H Abstract Delays in recovery of intestinal function following abdominal surgery are associated with longer hospital stays, increased postoperative complications, and higher costs to the health care system. Studies of acupuncture for postoperative ileus and other postoperative issues have reported improvements. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess whether acupuncture assisted recovery following surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified from major English and Chinese language biomedical databases. Participants (aged 18 years plus) had received surgical resection for CRC. 22 studies (1,628 participants) were included. Five were sham-controlled. Outcomes included gastrointestinal function recovery (21 studies), recovery of urinary function (1 study), postoperative abdominal distension (3 studies), and quality of life (1 study). Meta-analyses found significant reductions in time to first bowel sounds, first flatus, and first defecation in both the sham-controlled and nonblinded studies. These results suggested that the addition of acupuncture following CRC surgery improved recovery of gastrointesti...
Source: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Tags: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Source Type: research