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Acupuncture for Dysphagia After Chemoradiation Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer: A Case Series Report

Background: Dysphagia is a common side effect following chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Methods: In this retrospective case series, 10 patients with HNC were treated with acupuncture for radiation-induced dysphagia and xerostomia. All patients were diagnosed with stage III/IV squamous cell carcinoma. In all, 7 of 10 patients were percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube dependent when they began acupuncture. Manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture were used once a week. Results: A total of 9 of 10 patients reported various degrees of subjective improvement in swallowing functions, xerostomia, pain, and fatigue levels. Overall, 6 (86%) of 7 PEG tube-dependent patients had their feeding tubes removed after acupuncture, with a median duration of 114 days (range 49 to 368 days) post CRT. One typical case is described in detail. Conclusions: A relatively short PEG tube duration and reduced symptom severity following CRT were observed in these patients. Formal clinical trials are required to determine the causality of the observations.