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Could acupuncture be an adequate alternative to dexamethasone in pediatric tonsillectomy?
Author(s) -
Moeen Seham M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
pediatric anesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.704
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1460-9592
pISSN - 1155-5645
DOI - 10.1111/pan.12933
Subject(s) - medicine , dexamethasone , acupuncture , anesthesia , tonsillectomy , vomiting , antiemetic , incidence (geometry) , saline , surgery , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , optics
Summary Background Usage of nonpharmacological treatment contributes to an overall patient well‐being, assisting in physical and emotional healing. Acupuncture has been reported to be useful in reducing early postoperative vomiting (POV) and attenuating postoperative pain. Aim The aim of this study was to compare the effect of dexamethasone vs acupuncture at P6 bilaterally and CV 13 on the incidence and severity of POV in children undergoing tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy. Method One hundred and twenty children, ASA I – III aged 2–8 years undergoing elective tonsillectomy were included in this prospective randomized double‐blind study. Children were randomly divided into two equal groups (60 each). At induction of anesthesia, the dexamethasone group received 0.15 mg·kg −1 dexamethasone IV plus sham acupuncture, and the acupuncture group received acupuncture at P6 bilaterally and CV 13 plus 2 ml of normal saline IV . Vomiting was recorded at 0–6, 6–24, and 0–24 h postoperatively. Results There was no difference in the incidence of vomiting between the acupuncture and dexamethasone groups. The mean difference in time to first oral intake (95% CI) was 4.3 (0.5–8.6) min between dexamethasone group and acupuncture group; P = 0.426. The mean difference in time until first vomit (95% CI) was 12 (9.5–13.8) min between both groups. No significant differences between Kaplan–Meier curves for time until first vomit (log‐rank test) were obtained ( P = 0.697). Conclusion Acupuncture at P6 bilaterally and CV 13 provided similar antiemetic effect to dexamethasone in children undergoing tonsillectomy.