[Moxibustion Plus Medication Can Relieve Refractory Nausea and Vomiting and Improve Quality of Life of Advanced Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemical Therapy]

To explore the efficacy of moxibustion combined with medication in the treatment of refractory nausea and vomiting and quality of life (QOL) in advanced cancer patients.

A total of 266 advanced cancer patients with nausea and vomiting were randomly assigned to Metoclopramide group (M group, n＝70), Metoclopramide plus Haloperidol group (MH group, n＝65), moxibustion ＋ M group (n＝63), and moxibustion ＋ MH group (n＝68). Moxibustion was applied to bilateral Zusanli (ST 36), and Guanyuan (CV 4), Qihai (CV 6) for 20 min every time, twice a day for 2 weeks. The Rhodes' Index of nausea, Vomiting and Retching (INVR) was used for assessing the state of these symptoms in duration, frequency and severity (40 points), the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD, 0－76 points) was employed to measure the patients' depression severity, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G, including physical, social/family, emotional, and functional dimensions, 27 items, 108 points) was adopted to measure the cancer patients' QOL.

Following the treatment, the INVR and HAMD scores were significantly decreased in the M, MH, moxibusion＋M and moxibustion＋MH groups in comparison with their own pretreatment (P<0.05) and were significantly lower in the moxibustion＋MH group than in the M, MH and moxibustion＋M groups (P<0.05). The FACT-G scoring outcomes showed that the scores of physical well-being, emotional well-being, and total score of QOL were significantly higher in the MH, moxibustion＋M and moxibustion＋MH groups than in the M group, and were significantly higher in the moxibustion＋MH group than in the MH and moxibustion＋M groups (P<0.05). No significant differences were found between the MH and moxibustion＋M groups in the INVR and HAMD scores, and in the scores of physical well-being, emotional well-being and total score of QOL (P>0.05)．.

Moxibustion plus Metoclopramide and Haloperidol can relieve refractory nausea and vomiting, and better depression and QOL in advanced cancer patients, being worthy of popularization in clinical practice.