Review on RCT Research Papers Related Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy - Focusing on Acupoint Treatment

Review on RCT Research Papers Related Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy- Focusing on Acupoint Treatment - Suk-Woo Jang, In-Suk Ahn, Min-Sun Choi, Dong-Il KimDept. of OB & GY, Dong-Guk University Ilsan Oriental HospitalObjectives: To observe randomized controlled trials(RCTs) related to invest igating the effects of acupoint treatments on nausea and vomiting in pr egnancy to establish the basis of korean medical trea tments, and suggest the problems of future clinical research. Methods: After searching for national and international papers published after 2000 and restricting the parameters to ‘clinical trial’, ‘controlled clinical trial’, ‘randomized controlled trial’, then comparing the subjects, met hods, research tools, and results to understand the effects and re-comparing the conf licting results to assume the cause. Results: Of the 9 research papers that applied acupressure, four of the m used control and experimental groups, and three(75%) research papers indicated significant reduction in vomiting and nausea, and of the seven research pap ers that utilized the experimental and placebo groups, five(71.4%) reported signi ficant reducing effects. Of the four research papers the used acupuncture treat ments, four research papers using control and placebo groups, two showed improvement s in symptoms but did not have significant results compared to sham acupunctu re groups, and two showed significant reduction of symptoms compared to the co ntrol groups. The one research paper that used electrical stimulation showed significant results in the reduction of vomiting and nausea compared to the control group. Conclusions: Acupressure and electrical stimulation showed efficacy reducing the symptoms. Acupuncture treatments did not indicate efficacy some experiments. Therefore it is thought that future acupuncture treatments shou ld use methods that resemble actual clinical medicine to establish efficacy to prod uce significant results. Key Words: Acupuncture, Acupressure, Electrical stimulation, Nausea, Vomit ing, Hyperemesis, Morning sickness