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Therapeutic touch for healing acute woundsO'Mathúna DP, Ashford RL
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SummaryTherapeutic touch therapy for healing acute wounds.Therapeutic touch is an alternative therapy that is gaining popularity as a wound treatment. Practitioners enter a meditative state and pass their hands above the patient's body to find and correct any imbalances in the patient's 'life energy' or chi. Scientific instruments have been unable to detect this energy. The review found contradictory evidence about the effects of therapeutic touch. Some trials showed a benefit while others suggested that the process slowed the rate of healing. The review concluded that trials do not show therapeutic touch to be beneficial in healing wounds from minor surgery.
This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008 Issue 3, Copyright © 2008 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).
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October 20. 2003 AbstractBackgroundTherapeutic Touch (TT) is an alternative therapy that has gained popularity over the past two decades for helping wounds to heal. Practitioners enter a meditative state and pass their hands above the patient's body to find and correct any imbalances in the patient's 'life energy' or chi. Scientific instruments have been unable to detect this energy. The effect of TT on wound healing has been expounded in anecdotal publications. This 2003 Cochrane review was the first systematic review which is now being updated in 2006. ObjectivesTo identify and review all relevant data to determine the effects of TT on healing of acute wounds. Search strategyFor this second update searches were carried out in November 2007. Databases searched were the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register (Searched 26/11/07), The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) - The Cochrane Library 2007 Issue 4, 2007 Ovid MEDLINE - 1950 to November 2007, Ovid EMBASE - 1980 to 2007 Week 46 and Ovid CINAHL - 1982 to November 2007. Selection criteriaAll randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials, which compared the effect of TT with a placebo, another treatment, or no treatment control were considered. Studies which used TT as a stand-alone treatment, or as an adjunct to other therapies, were eligible. Data collection and analysisOne author (DO'M) determined the eligibility for inclusion of all trials in the review. Both authors conducted data extraction and evaluation of trial validity independently. Each trial was assessed using predetermined criteria. Main resultsNo new trials were included in this update. Therefore four trials in people with experimental wounds were included. The effect of TT on wound healing in these studies was variable. Two of the studies (n = 44 & 24) demonstrated a significant increase in healing associated with TT, whilst one other trial found significantly worse healing after TT and the other found no significant difference. Authors' conclusionsThere is no evidence that TT promotes healing of acute wounds. |
