NCT07535593

Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation at Jing-Well Points for Disorders of Consciousness

Efficacy and Safety of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation at Hand Jing-Well Points in Patients With Disorders of Consciousness：A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2 / Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 160 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Xijing Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Effective treatment options for disorders of consciousness (DoC) remain limited, and available interventions show heterogeneous efficacy. To date, limited evidences support the use of amantadine and transcranial direct current stimulation in this population. Bloodletting puncture (BP) at the hand twelve Jing-Well points (HTWPs) has been traditionally used in China as an empirical therapy for DoC; however, its efficacy has not been established by robust clinical evidence. Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) provides a modern, noninvasive alternative for acupoint stimulation. The Wells-DoC trial, a multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label study with blinded endpoint assessment, provided preliminary evidence that TEAS applied at the hand twelve Jing-Well points was associated with a numerically higher proportion of consciousness improvement in patients with DoC, although the difference did not reach statistical significance. These findings support the need for further evaluation in an adequately powered randomized controlled trial. The Wells-DoC II trial is a multicenter, randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TEAS at the twelve Jing-Well points of the hand in patients with DoC. The primary objective of the Wells-DoC II trial is to determine whether TEAS applied at the twelve Jing-Well points of the hand improves consciousness in adults with DoC. The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients achieving consciousness improvement after 14 consecutive days of treatment, compared between the TEAS group and the sham stimulation (placebo control) group. The secondary objectives are to assess the effects of TEAS versus sham stimulation on: (1) changes in Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) scores at 7 and 14 days; (2) change in ABCD model classification at day 14; and (3) functional outcomes measured by the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) at 3 and 6 months after enrollment. A total of 160 patients will be recruited over a 28-month period.

Conditions

• Disorders of Consciousness Due to Severe Brain Injury

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Transcutaneous electrical stimulation	Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation at hand twelve jing-well points
DEVICE	Sham electrical stimulation	Sham electrical acupoint stimulation at hand twelve jing-well points

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-04-01
• Primary completion: 2028-06-01
• Completion: 2028-12-01
• First posted: 2026-04-17
• Last updated: 2026-04-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: China