The Effect of Symptom Management Program and Auricular Acupressure on Pain in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Transarterial Chemoembolization Therapy

Abstract

This quasi experimental, aimed to examine effects of symptom management program and auricular acupressure on pain between the control and the experimental group during TACE and 4, 6, 8, 9 hours after TACE, and to examine effects of symptom management program and auricular acupressure on pain during TACE and 4, 6, 8, 9 hours after TACE in the experimental group. The sample of 44 subjects was male or female with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and treated with transarterial chemoembolization therapy at the intervention radiology department of the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok. The control group (n=22) received routine nursing care while the experimental group (n=22) received routine nursing care with the symptom management program and auricular acupressure that developed base on the concept of Dodd et al.. The collecting instruments used for data were Numeric Rating Scale. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and Repeated Measure ANOVA.

                The results were as follows:

                1. The mean score of pain in the experimental group at 4 6, 8 and 9 hours after TACE was significantly lower than that during TACE (p <.05).

                2. The mean score of pain after TACE at 6, 8 and 9 hours in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group (p <.05).

The findings indicated that the integrated alternative therapies between the symptom management program and auricular acupressure is a beneficial program for pain management in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing transarterial chemoembolization  therapy. Nurses should integrate this program as the nursing guideline in alternative therapy to care for pain management in patients. However to confirm the effectiveness of the auricular acupressure for relieving  pain, it requires testing with other sample groups together were further study about the others master point of auricular acupressure.