Pain caused by bone metastasis has several impacts on the
quality of life of many patients with cancer. Adequate pain relief improves the
quality of life and functional status. However conventional analgesia often has
undesired side effects. For example, strong analgesics, namely opiates, are
first-line therapy in alleviating caner-induce bone pain despite severe side
effects, including enhanced bone destruction with sustained administration.
Recently Dr. Paley and colleagues in the UK discussed
acupuncture treatment for cancer-induced bone pain by reviewing the physiological
rational for using acupuncture to treat cancer-induced bone pain and the risk
and benefits of acupuncture in clinical practice. They analysed the evidence from
some major databases and found that
“Available physiological evidence supports potentially
efficacious effects of acupuncture for reduction of CIBP. Clinical literature suggests
that acupuncture may be effective as an adjunctive treatment for CIBP and that
risks are manageable. However, there is a need for well-designed randomised
controlled trials to investigate efficacy and effectiveness in patients”.
The report concluded that acupuncture could provide
background analgesia or rapid onset analgesia for breakthrough pain.
Reference:
CA Paley (2011) Physiotherapy 97:256–263. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21820545
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