NCT02013908

Acupuncture for Pain Control in the Emergency Department

Acupuncture for Non-emergent Acute Musculoskeletal Pain and Primary Headache in an Emergency Department Setting: a Parallel, Randomized, Controlled Pilot Trial

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 17 (actual)
• Sponsor: Korean Medicine Hospital of Pusan National University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 19 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Acupuncture is widely used for managing acute and chronic pain conditions. In the context of an emergency department (ED), patients often present with non-emergent acute pain symptoms. This may result in a delayed triage process and inefficient emergent management. An integrative patient-care approach in emergency departments has been explored that may improve patient satisfaction and promote efficient use of healthcare resources for non-emergent patients in the ED. This implies there is a potential role for acupuncture in such contexts. The aim of this pilot study is to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture as an add-on intervention for patients with non-emergent acute musculoskeletal pain and primary headaches in an ED setting. Hypotheses of this study are as follows: 1. A single session of add-on acupuncture, with standard ED management, can reduce pain levels in non-emergent acute pain, compared to standard ED management alone. 2. A single session of add-on acupuncture to standard ED management can reduce additional consumption of healthcare resources for management of non-emergent acute pain, compared to standard ED management alone. This study aimed to include 40 participants, 20 in the acupuncture plus standard ED management group and 20 in the standard ED management alone group.

Conditions

• Neck Pain
• Ankle Injuries
• Headache Disorders, Primary

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Acupuncture plus standard ED management
PROCEDURE	Standard ED management alone

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-12-01
• Primary completion: 2015-11-01
• Completion: 2015-11-01
• First posted: 2013-12-17
• Last updated: 2015-12-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: South Korea