Effects of Auricular Acupressure Therapy on Primary Dysmenorrhea for Female High School Students in South Korea. CONSORT 2010 Statement: Updated Guidelines for Reporting Parallel Group Randomized Trials Defecation frequency and timing, and stool form in the general population: a prospective study. [The effects of abdominal meridian massage on constipation among CVA patients]. Auricular Acupressure in the Prevention of Postoperative Nausea and Emesis A Randomized Controlled Trial.
PURPOSE To examine the effect of auricular acupressure therapy on primary dysmenorrhea among female high school students in South Korea . DESIGN A r and omized controlled trial was employed . METHODS The study sample consisted of 91 female high school students , with 45 participants in the experimental group and 46 in the control group in two regions of South Korea . The average age of the participants was 16.7 years , and the average age of menarche was 12.2 years .  Auricular acupressure therapy including an auricular acupressure needle on skin paper tape was applied on an ear for 3 days during periods of extreme primary dysmenorrhea . The acupoint names were Jagung , Sinmun , Gyogam , and Naebunbi . For the placebo control group , only the skin paper tape without an auricular acupressure needle was applied on the same acupoints . Measures used were the Menstrual Distress Question naire to assess primary dysmenorrhea , and the visual analog scale to assess abdominal and back pain of participants . FINDINGS There were significant differences on abdominal pain ( t = 24.594 , p < .001 ) , back pain ( t = 22.661 , p < .001 ) , and primary dysmenorrhea ( t = 32.187 , p < .001 ) between the two groups . Auricular acupressure therapy decreased abdominal pain , back pain , and primary dysmenorrhea of female high school students in South Korea . CONCLUSIONS Auricular acupressure therapy was an effective intervention for alleviating abdominal pain , back pain , and primary dysmenorrhea of female high school students in South Korea . For feasibility of the auricular acupressure therapy in practice , it is needed to train and learn the exact positions of acupoints in ear . CLINICAL RELEVANCE Health providers should consider providing auricular acupressure therapy as an alternative method for reducing abdominal and back pain , and primary dysmenorrhea in female high school students in South Korea The CONSORT ( Consoli date d St and ards of Reporting Trials ) statement is used worldwide to improve the reporting of r and omized , controlled trials . Schulz and colleagues describe the latest version , CONSORT 2010 , which up date s the reporting guideline based on new method ological evidence and accumulating experience . Because the range of bowel habits and stool types in the community is unknown we question ed 838 men and 1059 women , comprising 72.2 % of a r and om stratified sample of the East Bristol population . Most of them kept records of three consecutive defecations , including stool form on a vali date d six point scale ranging from hard , round lumps to mushy . Question naire responses agreed moderately well with recorded data . Although the most common bowel habit was once daily this was a minority practice in both sexes ; a regular 24 hour cycle was apparent in only 40 % of men and 33 % of women . Another 7 % of men and 4 % of women seemed to have a regular twice or thrice daily bowel habit . Thus most people had irregular bowels . A third of women defecated less often than daily and 1 % once a week or less . Stools at the constipated end of the scale were passed more often by women than men . In women of child bearing age bowel habit and the spectrum of stool types were shifted towards constipation and irregularity compared with older women and three cases of severe slow transit constipation were discovered in young women . Otherwise age had little effect on bowel habit or stool type . Normal stool types , defined as those least likely to evoke symptoms , accounted for only 56 % of all stools in women and 61 % in men . Most defecations occurred in the early morning and earlier in men than in women . We conclude that conventionally normal bowel function is enjoyed by less than half the population and that , in this aspect of human physiology , younger women are especially disadvantaged PURPOSE This study was aim ed at developing an efficient nursing method for the management of constipation by comparing the effects of abdominal meridian massage on the symptoms of constipation . METHOD The subjects were determined by the Rome II criteria and the Constipation Assessment Scale from Aug 30 through Sep 26 , 2002 . They were r and omly divided into two groups : one experimental group of 16 , another control group of 15 .  Abdominal meridian massage was given to the experimental group and no massage was given to the control group . The frequency of defecation and severity of constipation by CAS were measured . The data was analyzed with the t-test , chi(2)-test , and repeated measures ANOVA . RESULTS There was a significant improvement in frequency of defecation , and severity of constipation in the experimental group compared to the control group . CONCLUSION Abdominal meridian massage can be considered an effective nursing method for the management of constipation among CVA patients INTRODUCTION Successful antiemesis contributes significantly to quality , safety , and patient satisfaction . Patients undergoing general anesthesia often experience postoperative nausea and vomiting ( PONV ) .  Acupressure offers a side effect-free alternative to common first-line antiemetics . Because the patient may perceive needle acupuncture as uncomfortable , acupressure is a desirable alternative for the prevention of PONV . METHODS This study was a r and omized , prospect i ve , double-blinded clinical trial investigating the effect of acupressure in patients with a history of PONV and motion sickness . The three auricular acupressure points chosen were shen men , point zero , and the subcortex point . Rescue treatment for PONV with 4 mg intravenous ondansetron was used if the patient reported persistent nausea . A blinded observer recorded antiemetic rescue data , and postoperative analgesic use was recorded over 24 hours . Nausea , vomiting , and retching were assessed in the post-anesthesia care unit ( PACU ) . RESULTS Using univariate analysis , we ruled out the null hypothesis of equal means as a function of intervention group ( p = 0.001 ) . Pair-wise comparisons revealed a difference between placebo and test groups ( p = 0.000 ) and also sham and test groups ( p = 0.033 ) where age ( p = 0.048 ) and gender ( p = 0.003 ) were significant covariates . DISCUSSION Our data reveal that auricular acupressure significantly decreases nausea during the PACU stay and within the 24 hours postoperatively . It is not clear whether the intervention decreases nausea as a primary effect or as a secondary result by decreasing narcotic requirements . Also , perception of nausea may be in part subjective . This is evidence d by our results in which subjects who received sham points fared better than the placebo subjects
OBJECTIVE Auricular acupressure ( AA ) therapy has been widely used in Eastern Asia and Europe to prevent constipation in leukemia patients undergoing chemotherapy .
The aim of this systematic review was to review data from r and omized controlled trials ( RCTs ) of auricular acupressure therapy for preventing constipation in leukemia patients undergoing chemotherapy .