Despite advances in symptom management, children undergoing cancer treatment or receiving a chemotherapy-based hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) often experience moderate to severe symptoms. Parents of children with cancer also report having distress. Pharmacologic treatments of symptoms can cause adverse effects. Patients, parents, and clinicians have expressed interest in including nonpharmacologic approaches to improve symptom management. Acupressure is a promising adjunctive therapy to usual care. More evidence is needed from well-designed trials with larger samples and rigorous designs to make definitive recommendations about the inclusion of acupressure among patients being treated for pediatric cancer or receiving HSCT.
