A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Acupressure for Postoperative Gastrointestinal Symptoms among Abdominal Surgery Patients

Yunhong Liu, Winnie P.Y. Tang, Shengxiang Gong, Carmen W.H. Chan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Postoperative ileus is a common and often life-threatening gastrointestinal complication with few management methods available for patients. Integrating acupressure into perioperative care promises to bring benefits into preventing postoperative ileus. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the efficacy of acupressure in identifying the signs and symptoms of postoperative ileus among patients undergoing abdominal surgery. The MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, China Journal Net and Wanfang databases were searched for high-quality RCTs using keywords such as acupressure, postoperative ileus, abdominal surgery, etc. A total of six studies (N=894) were included in this review and meta-analysis. The quality of the literature was found to be uniformly moderate by the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) assessment tool. The results of meta-analyses revealed that acupressure could significantly reduce risks for postoperative nausea (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.39-0.70, P<0.0001) and vomiting (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.39-0.75, P<0.001) compared with the control group, without significant heterogeneity among studies. Meta-analysis of the need for antiemetic drugs suggested that the OR was 0.39 (95% CI 0.20-0.78, P<0.01) with significant heterogeneity among studies. Our results suggested that acupressure might be effective in reducing the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting and the need for antiemetic drugs among patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Considering the substantial risk of bias in the articles included, future high-quality RCTs with a rigorous methodology are desirable to provide solid evidence. Furthermore, other signs and symptoms of postoperative ileus should be explored in future.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1127-1145
Number of pages19
JournalAmerican Journal of Chinese Medicine
Volume45
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Abdominal Surgery
  • Acupressure
  • Meta-analysis
  • Postoperative Ileus
  • Systematic Review

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