TUESDAY, June 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For women with moderate-to-severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), both acupuncture and doxylamine-pyridoxine are efficacious, and the combination may yield a larger benefit than either treatment alone, according to a study published online June 20 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Xiao-Ke Wu, M.D., Ph.D., from the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in Harbin, and colleagues examined the efficacy and safety of acupuncture, doxylamine-pyridoxine, and a combination of both in 352 women in early pregnancy with moderate-to-severe NVP. Participants received 30 minutes of daily active or sham acupuncture and 14 days of doxylamine-pyridoxine or placebo.

The researchers observed no significant interaction between the interventions. A larger reduction in the Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis score was seen over the treatment course for acupuncture, doxylamine-pyridoxine, and the combination of both compared with their respective control groups (mean differences, −0.7, −1.0, and −1.6, respectively). The risk for births with children who were small for gestational age was higher with doxylamine-pyridoxine versus placebo.

“The combination of both treatments showed numerically larger and potentially more clinically meaningful benefit than either treatment alone,” the authors write. “This finding is especially significant because there is a pressing need to establish a pregnancy-safe treatment regimen and an integrative guideline for managing severe NVP.”

One author disclosed ties to industry.

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