Korean hand acupressure reduces postoperative vomiting in children after strabismus surgery

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted to inves tigate the effectiveness of Korean hand acupuncture in preventing postopera tive vomiting in children scheduled for strabismus surgery. In one group, a cupressure was performed 30 min before induction of anaesthesia by applying an acupressure disc onto the Korean hand acupuncture point K-K9; the disc remained in situ for at least 24 h. The second group functioned as placebo group. The treatment groups did not differ with regard to patient character istics, surgical procedure and anaesthetic administered. In the acupressure group, the incidence of vomiting was significantly lower (20%) than in the placebo group (68%). We conclude that Korean hand acupressure of the acupu ncture point K-K9 is an effective method for reducing postoperative vomitin g in children after strabismus repair.