Non Pharmacological Interventions for Chemotherapy Induced Nauseas and Vomits: integrative review

Abstract

Nausea and vomiting are one of the most common gastrointestinal toxicities of antineoplastic treatment; it may affect negatively patient`s nutritional condition, hidroeletrolitic balance and quality of life. This study aimed to identify evidences in medical literature regarding non-pharmacologic interventions to prevent and treat chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. We performed an integrative review on online databases for that purpose. We elected 9 articles from this research, which presented the following possible non-pharmacological interventions for chemotherapy emesis: accupressure, acupuncture, electroacupuncture, relaxing techniques and yoga. The authors concluded that the results suggested that these interventions should be recommended for cancer patients, mainly those presenting chemotherapy emesis in consecutive cycles.