Abstract:

Objective To observe the effect of auricular acupoint pressing beans combined with transcuta⁃ neous acupoint electrical stimulation（TAES）for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting（PONV）after radi⁃ cal mastectomy. Methods A total of 120 female patients undergoing radical mastectomy under general anesthesia were randomly assigned to four groups：control group（group A），auricular acupoint pressing beansauricular acu⁃ point pressing beans group（group B），TAES group（group C），auricular acupoint pressing beans combined with TAES（group D）. The concentration of plasma 5⁃hydroxytryptamine（5⁃HT），motilin（MTL）and gastrin（GAS）were measured by enzyme⁃linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）before，12 hours and 24 hours after operation. The inci⁃ dence of PONV 30 minutes，6 hours，12 hours，and 24 hours after operation were recorded. Results Compared with group A，the incidence of PONV 6 h，12 h and 24 h after operation significantly reduced in group C and D（P < 0.05）. Compared with group A，MTL and GAS were elevated in groups B，C and D at 12 h and 24 h after opera⁃ tion（P < 0.05）and the concentration of 5⁃HT 12 and 24 hours after operation was significantly decreased in group C and D（P < 0. 05）. Conclusion Auricular acupoint pressing beans combined with TAES after radical mastecto⁃ my could prevent PONV effectively，regulate gastrointestinal hormones，and reduce the concentration of plasma 5⁃HT without obvious side effects. It is a safe and effective non⁃pharmacological therapy that can be promoted. 

Key words:

transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation, auricular acupoint pressing beans, postop? erative nausea and vomiting, radical mastectomy