Acupuncture for Dysphagia After Chemoradiation Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer: A Case Series Report

Abstract

Background: Dysphagia is a common side effect following chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Methods: In this retrospective case series, 10 patients with HNC were treated with acupuncture for radiation-induced dysphagia and xerostomia. All patients were diagnosed with stage III/IV squamous cell carcinoma. In all, 7 of 10 patients were percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube dependent when they began acupuncture. Manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture were used once a week. Results: A total of 9 of 10 patients reported various degrees of subjective improvement in swallowing functions, xerostomia, pain, and fatigue levels. Overall, 6 (86%) of 7 PEG tube-dependent patients had their feeding tubes removed after acupuncture, with a median duration of 114 days (range 49 to 368 days) post CRT. One typical case is described in detail. Conclusions: A relatively short PEG tube duration and reduced symptom severity following CRT were observed in these patients. Formal clinical trials are required to determine the causality of the observations.

Keywords

acupuncture chemoradiation therapy radiation therapy head and neck cancer dysphagia percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube

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