NCT00549835

Acupuncture for Mucositis Pain in Cancer Care

• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 0 (actual)
• Sponsor: Johns Hopkins University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This research is being done to see if acupuncture helps relieve mucositis pain in patients with leukemia who are undergoing chemotherapy. Many patients receiving chemotherapy develop mucositis (painful sores or blisters in the mouth or throat). Mucositis is not only a frequent complication in cancer care and extremely painful, but also increases the risks of infection and malnutrition and often leads to discontinuing or delaying the chemotherapy treatments.

Detailed description

Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used medical procedures in the world. The practice originated in China more than 2,000 years ago, and is widely used by doctors in Korea, China, Japan, and other countries to ease pain or various symptoms. In the past two decades, acupuncture has grown in popularity in the United States, and by 2002, an estimated 8.2 million adults in the US report having used acupuncture. The term acupuncture describes a family of procedures involving stimulation of anatomical points on the body by a variety of techniques. The acupuncture technique that has been most studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation. Acupuncture needles are metallic, solid, and hair-thin. People experience acupuncture differently, but most feel no or minimal pain as the needles are inserted. Some people are energized by treatment, while others feel relaxed. Acupuncture has been used to ease some cancer treatment-related side effects such as nausea and vomiting. In this study we will assess the potential usefulness of acupuncture to ease the pain associated with mucositis.

Conditions

• Mucositis
• Pain
• Leukemia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Real Acupuncture
PROCEDURE	Sham Acupuncture	Sham needles are developed to exclude sham effect and to prove real acupuncture efficacy. We will use specifically retractable Park Sham Device (AcuPrime, Exeter, UK) for control group. Because this sham device gives the impression of insertion with telescopic needle body and some pricking sensation with a bunt needle tip. It is a valid control for many acupuncture trials as it doesn't penetrate skin and doesn't create active stimulation as much as real needles or acupressure. To avoid unnecessary stimulation of penetrating skin in this population, we plan to use non-penetrating sham device rather than penetrating non-acupuncture point with real needles as control intervention. All other procedures will be same as Real Acupuncture group except using non-penetrating sham needles on non-acupuncture points. After final session, we will ask all subjects in both groups which form of treatment each subject believe to have during study and will analyze blinding credibility.

Timeline

• Start date: 2007-08-01
• Primary completion: 2009-10-01
• Completion: 2009-10-01
• First posted: 2007-10-26
• Last updated: 2015-04-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States