Effects of electronic massager on patients with advanced cancer of the prostate

Abstract

Background: The electronic massager has in recent times become so
popularized that it is used in the treatment of almost every ailment. Its
prescriptions range from treatment of obesity through acute painful conditions to the treatment of complications of cancer conditions. There are many claims and counter claims from the manufacturers of such massagers and it is becoming increasingly difficult to control its usage by people, both the sick and the healthy; even when its use is not obviously indicated. Some of our prostate cancer patients also were not left out in the craze for massagers.
Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the effects of the
electronic massager on patients with advanced prostate cancer.
Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study done in our unit to find out any effects of using the electronic massager on advanced prostate cancer patients. The folders of patients diagnosed as cancer of the prostate over a period of five years were traced from the Records Department of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku / Ozalla. Those who had histological diagnosis / clinical late stages i.e. stages III & IV were selected. The effects of electronic massager on those who had used it were studied vis-à-vis their counterparts who did not use it.
Results: There were twenty-seven advanced (Stages III &IV) prostate cancer patients seen over a period of five years. Five of the patients used the electronic massagers and all five died within one year of getting readmitted in the hospital; four of them within three months, while the last one died about the seventh month. Those who did not use electronic massagers survived beyond one year from the time of readmission.
Conclusions: The use of the electronic massager increases morbidity and mortality rates in prostate cancer patients.

Keywords: Advanced prostate cancer, effects, massager