A preliminary discussion on rules of clinical acupoint selection of acupuncture for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting

Objective To preliminarily investigate the rules of acupoint selection of acupuncture and moxibustion for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting by retrospecting pertinent literature from 1986 to 2013. Methods Literature of clinical studies on acupuncture and moxibustion for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting published from 1986 to 2013 in CNKI, Wanfang and VIP databases and in PubMed database were retrieved. Data were analyzed statistically via Excel. Results One hundred and nineteen articles retrieved were related to the study. Based on the current literature analysis, meridians selected for acupuncture and moxibustion on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting were mainly the stomach meridian, the pericardium meridian, the conception vessel, the spleen meridian and bladder meridian; point combination was applied more in prescription, accounting for 73.11%, while single point was applied less, only accounting for 26.89%. There were numerous methods for point combinations, but proximal and distal point combination was the most widely used method, accounting for 20.93%. Meanwhile, main acupoints selected were mostly Zusanli (ST 36), Neiguan ( PC 6), Zhongwan (CV 12), Gongsun (SP 4) and Taichong ( LR 3) and point combinations were mainly Shenmen (HT 7), Geshu (BL 17), Pishu (BL 20), Weishu (BL 21) and Jianli (CV 11). Conclusion Acupoints selection on acupuncture and moxibustion for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting shows a certain rules that the meridians selected are mainly stomach meridian, pericardium meridian and conception vessel and acupuncture points selected are normally ST 36, PC 6 and CV 12, proximal and distal point combination is applied more, while single point applied less.