Efficacy of external application therapy of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of cancer pain

Objective To observe the efficacy of external application therapy of traditional Chinese medicine on cancer pain.

Methods Data of 274 patients treated with traditional Chinese medicine application therapy of Kangai Zhitong Formula in oncology department of Yangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Jiangsu Province were retrospectively analyzed. According to Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score before treatment, 274 patients were divided into mild pain group (n=175, NRS score of 1 to 3) and moderate pain group (n=99, NRS score of 4 to 6). The overall curative effect of traditional Chinese medicine application therapy and curative effects of patients with mild and moderate cancer pain were observed.

Results Among 274 patients, 41 patients were treated with morphine for breakthrough pain due to increased NRS score. The response rate and control rates of pain were 78.9% and 97.1% in the mild pain group, 48.5% and 58.6% in moderate pain group. The response rates and control rates of patients in the mild pain group were higher than those in the moderate pain group (P<0.05). The response rates of patients with NRS score of 1, 2 and 3 were 82.2%, 79.7% and 76.1%, and pain control rates of patients with NRS score of 1, 2 and 3 were 97.8%, 96.6%and 97.2%, there were no significant differences in pain control rate and response rates among patients with scores of 1, 2 and 3 after application therapy(P=0.939). The response rates were 75.8%, 48.0%and 26.8% for patients with NRS score of 4, 5 and 6. Response rates of patients with NRS score of 4 were higher than those with NRS score of 5 and 6 (P<0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference in response rates after application therapy between patients with NRS score of 5 and 6 (P=0.08).

Conclusion For patients with NRS score≤3, traditional Chinese medicine application therapy is an effective treatment. For patients with NRS score of 4, the application of traditional Chinese medicine application therapy can still achieve good therapeutic effect, but the efficacy and pain control rate of traditional Chinese medicine application therapy are low for patients with NRS score of 5 and 6, therefore, auxiliary analgesia is needed for them.