NCT02890810

Predicting Analgesic Response to Acupuncture: A Practical Approach

Predicting Analgesic Response to Acupuncture: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Subject and Assessor Blinded, 100-Subject Clinical Trial of Electro-Acupuncture in the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 121 (actual)
• Sponsor: Stanford University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 21 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

In this placebo controlled, patient and assessor blinded clinical trial, the investigators will administer electroacupuncture vs sham electroacupuncture to patients suffering from chronic low back pain, and monitor their symptoms as well as collecting objective outcome measures. The investigators objective is to identify predictors of pain reduction and functional improvement with electroacupuncture vs placebo.

Conditions

• Chronic Low Back Pain
• Back Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Real Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation	Acupuncture is a therapy commonly used in East Asian countries, where the practitioner insert thin needles at specific body sites in order to relieve pain and illnesses. Recent studies found low frequency electricity applied through acupuncture needles can lead to profound pain relief by increasing endorphin levels in the central nervous system. Electroacupuncture will thus be used as the active intervention to treat chronic low back pain in this clinical study.
OTHER	Simulated Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation	This intervention serves as the placebo control of the active intervention. Sterile acupuncture needles and the ITO electrical stimulators will be used in this intervention. But special care will be taken to have this intervention mimic the real treatment yet remaining as physiologically inert as possible.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-07-01
• Primary completion: 2018-12-31
• Completion: 2020-06-30
• First posted: 2016-09-07
• Last updated: 2021-01-25

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States