Acupuncture for Chemoradiation-Induced Dysphagia

Posted in For Patients

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In the past, dysphagia has been treated with swallowing therapies, dietary changes, and feeding tubes—but most of these options present a significant decrease in quality of life, and don’t offer a long-term solution to sufferers. In this post, we’ll discuss the case series that’s pointing to acupuncture as a viable alternative treatment.

Who took part in the study?

Since dysphagia is such a common side effect of chemoradiation therapy in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, researchers selected 10 patients previously diagnosed and treated for stage III/IV squamous cell carcinoma to undergo a series of acupuncture treatments. All of the subjects were suffering from dysphagia after chemoradiation, and seven of them were dependent on feeding tubes.

The dysphagia acupuncture regimen

When subjects began their acupuncture treatments, all suffered from serious to severe dysphagia, as well as other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, anxiety, pain, fatigue and xerostomia. Most were also undergoing swallowing therapy.

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Subjects then underwent weekly acupuncture sessions for 12–15 weeks (range 7–40), where a combination of manual and electroacupuncture was used.

The results of the dysphagia treatment

After undergoing various regimens, tailored to the severity of each patient’s symptoms, 9 out of 10 reported significant improvements in swallowing function, as well as in xerostomia, pain and fatigue levels. In addition, 6 of the 7 tube-dependent cases were able to have their feeding tubes removed after acupuncture.

More clinical trials to come

Though the applications of acupuncture are still being uncovered, the overwhelming positivity of case series like these have been paving the way for further clinical trials, larger studies, and broader experimentation. Check back next week as we continue to discuss the research behind acupuncture and its effect on dysphagia and other chemoradiation complications.

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