The effect of auricular acupressure on nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy among breast cancer patients

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of auricular acupressure in relieving nausea and vomiting among the women who received chemotherapy. Methods: 48 women suffering from Breast Cancer and receiving chemotherapy were recruited for the study. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups of experiment and control. In the initial phase of chemotherapy, the experimental group received standard medications to control nausea and vomiting and auricular acupressure for five days. Meanwhile, the control group received only the standard medications. Results: The use of auricular acupressure led to the decrease in the number and intensity of nausea and vomiting in both the acute and delayed phases in experimental group which were significantly lower than the control group (P = 0/001). Conclusions: It is suggested that nurses use this pressure technique as a complementary treatment, non pharmacological, inexpensive, non-invasive approach for the relief of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.