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Acupuncture Eases Postoperative Nausea

That finding, by researchers at Duke University Medical Center, appears in the Sept. 22 issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia.

The study included 75 women who had major breast surgery -- mastectomy, breast reduction or breast augmentation -- that required general anesthesia. The women were divided into three groups: The first received electro-acupuncture, the second received the drug ondansetron, and the third group received neither.

Two hours after surgery, 77 percent of the women who received acupuncture experienced no nausea and didn't need medication to reduce nausea and vomiting, compared to 64 percent of those who received ondansetron and 42 percent of those who received nothing.