Effects of Auricular Acupressure on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Patients With Gynecological Laparoscopic Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is common among females undergoing gynecological surgeries. PONV not only causes patients discomfort but also leads to serious complications, affecting their health outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of applying auricular acupressure to alleviate PONV and postoperative anxiety and to improve satisfaction with anesthesia care in patients undergoing gynecological laparoscopic surgery (GLS).

Design: A randomized control trial was conducted for this study.

Methods: Eighty patients who received general anesthesia for GLS were recruited at a medical center in northern Taiwan and randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups. Both groups had pellets taped onto different auricular points after the surgery: the stomach (CO4), cardia (CO3), liver (CO12), occiput (AT3), shenmen (TF4), and subcortex (AT4) for the experimental group and the knee (AH4) and thoracic vertebrae (AH11) for the control group. The pellets were removed 24 hours after surgery. The severity of PONV was assessed as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included levels of anxiety and satisfaction with postanesthesia care.

Findings: After 24 hours of follow-up, patients in the experimental group reported significantly less PONV and a higher level of satisfaction with anesthesia care compared to patients in the control group. However, the levels of postoperative anxiety between the control and experimental groups were statistically insignificant.

Conclusions: The study demonstrates that the six auricular points, including CO4, CO3, CO12, AT3, TF4, and AT4, can effectively alleviate PONV and improve the quality of anesthesia care after GLS. Auricular acupressure is a nonpharmacologic treatment for PONV that takes cost and patient satisfaction into consideration.