Objective To explore the efficacy of moxibustion combined with medication in the treatment of refractory nausea and vomiting and quality of life(QOL)in advanced cancer patients.Methods A total of 266 advanced cancer patients with nausea and vomiting were randomly assigned to Metoclopramide group(M group

n=70)

Metoclopramide plus Haloperidol group(MH group

n=65)

moxibustion+ M group(n=63)

and moxibustion+ MH group(n=68).Moxibustion was applied to bilateral Zusanli(ST 36)

and Guanyuan(CV 4)

Qihai(CV 6)for 20 min every time

twice a day for 2 weeks.The Rhodes' Index of nausea

Vomiting and Retching(INVR)was used for assessing the state of these symptoms in duration

frequency and severity(40 points)

the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HAMD

0-76 points)was employed to measure the patients' depression severity

and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General(FACT-G

including physical

social/family

emotional

and functional dimensions

27 items

108 points)was adopted to measure the cancer patients' QOL.Results Following the treatment

the INVR and HAMD scores were significantly decreased in the M

MH

moxibusion+M and moxibustion+MH groups in comparison with their own pretreatment(P<0.05)and were significantly lower in the moxibustion+MH group than in the M

MH and moxibustion+M groups(P<0.05).The FACT-G scoring outcomes showed that the scores of physical well-being

emotional well-being

and total score of QOL were significantly higher in the MH

moxibustion+M and moxibustion+MH groups than in the M group

and were significantly higher in the moxibustion+MH group than in the MH and moxibustion+M groups(P<0.05).No significant differences were found between the MH and moxibustion+M groups in the INVR and HAMD scores

and in the scores of physical well-being

emotional well-being and total score of QOL(P>0.05).Conclusion Moxibustion plus Metoclopramide and Haloperidol can relieve refractory nausea and vomiting

and better depression and QOL in advanced cancer patients

being worthy of popularization in clinical practice.