Patient-Controlled Real-Time Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation at Neiguan (PC6) for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Breast Cancer: An Exploratory Single-Arm Two-Stage Trial.

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) remain difficult to control after discharge despite guideline-based antiemetics. This multicenter exploratory single-arm two-stage trial evaluated patient-controlled, real-time transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) at Neiguan (PC6) as an adjunct to standard antiemetic therapy in patients with breast cancer. Forty-eight patients who had experienced CINV and were scheduled at enrollment to receive the same chemotherapy and antiemetic regimens during two consecutive cycles were analyzed. Cycle 1 served as the observation period, and cycle 2 added on-demand wrist-worn TEAS initiated by patients at nausea or vomiting onset during 0-120 h after chemotherapy. Compared with the observation period, TEAS was associated with lower nausea frequency and visual analogue scale scores on days 1-5 and higher nausea response rates on days 1-4. Vomiting frequency and severity were lower on days 1-3, but between-period differences were not significant on days 4-5. SF-36 scores increased and SAS/SDS scores decreased on day 5. Two transient local numbness events occurred, with no serious TEAS-related adverse events. These findings suggest that patient-controlled TEAS is feasible and warrants confirmation in randomized sham-controlled trials.