ABSTRACT Cancer-related pain is one of the most prevalent health care concerns among cancer patients. Opioids, the commonly recommended pharmacologic intervention for managing pain, remain inadequate and often associated with adverse effects and addiction. Patients, therefore, turn to non-pharmacological therapies, i.e., complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The use of yoga, as a mind-body medicine of CAM, is becoming increasingly popular to cope with pain. This article reviews published clinical evidence supporting the use of yoga intervention in pain management. An electronic database, PubMed, was used to search published research on the efficacy of yoga on pain management in cancer patients. Our search identified 12 clinical trials on the subject; 6 single-armed trials, 1 non-randomized controlled trial, and 5 randomized controlled trials. A total of 531 patients (314 in yoga group, and 217 in control group) were recruited for these studies. Despite some methodological deficiencies, 11 studies reported improvement in cancer pain symptoms suggesting that yoga could be integrated in conventional cancer interventions for the management of pain.
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