腕踝针在口腔癌术后放疗病人中的应用

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of wrist-ankle acupuncture therapy on mouth opening difficulty, pain, and quality of life in postoperative radiotherapy patients with oral cancer. METHODS: A total of 60 postoperative radiotherapy patients with oral cancer admitted to oncology department, Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences from October 2021 to September 2023 were selected as the study subjects and randomly divided into test group and control group, 30 cases each. The control group received routine oral function exercise and pain management, while the test group received wrist-ankle acupuncture treatment on the basis of the control group. The degree of mouth opening difficulty, oral pain, and the influence of pain on quality of life between two groups cases were compared. RESULTS: At the end of radiotherapy, the degree of mouth opening difficulty and pain in the test group were lower than those in the control group. The influence of pain on quality of life was smaller in the test group than that in the control group. And the differences were statistically significant(P<0. 05). CONCLUSIONS: Wrist-ankle acupuncture could effectively improve the limited mouth opening, alleviate pain, and improve the quality of life of postoperative radiotherapy patients with oral cancer.