'Acupuncture Therapy' for Pain and Function Recovery in Spine Surgery Patients
Completed · Not applicable
Conditions studied: Pain, Low Back 'Spine Fusion' Surgery
In brief
Acupuncture has been studied in the perioperative setting and shown to reduce pain, anxiety, nausea and vomiting. Studies have been conducted in orthopedic surgery patients, but not spine patients. The investigators study will look at a combination of acupuncture therapies for patients having low back spine fusions to assess pain levels and return to function. 114 subjects will be randomized into a direct acupuncture therapy group (38), an indirect acupuncture therapy group (38), or usual care alone (38). All subjects will receive usual care for spine fusion patients. Direct acupuncture therapy subjects will have pre-op auricular seeds in four distinct ear points bilaterally, an acupuncture treatment on the day after surgery and an acupuncture treatment with gua sha on the 2nd day after surgery (typically day of discharge). The indirect acupuncture therapy group will have treatment timed exactly as the direct intervention group but consist of 'indirect' treatment: tape placed at ear points at pre-op, ear seeds placed on several body points on the first and second day after surgery. BPI, VAS, SPF36-2, and ODI measures will be taken at enrollment and at the 4-6 week follow-up appointment with subjects' spine surgeon. BPI and VAS will also be taken at day 3 and day 7-10 additionally.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT01304979
- Run by
- Beth Israel Medical Center
- People needed
- 114
- Starts
- 2010-09-01
- Expected to finish
- 2014-05-01
- Last updated by the study team
- 2014-12-30
Who can join
Age: 21 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Age 21 and older
- English speaking
- Admitted for lumbar spine surgery
You may not qualify if…
- No serious psychiatric illness
- Subject has not had acupuncture for four weeks prior to surgery
- Subject agrees to not have elective acupuncture for 6 weeks after surgery
Where it is running
- Beth Israel Medical Center Orthopedic Surgery, Spine Center — New York, New York, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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