Acupuncture in the Emergency Department

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Pain

In brief

The investigators will study acupuncture in a pilot, randomized controlled trial (RCT) in the emergency department (ED) of a large, tertiary care hospital, Abbott Northwestern Hospital (ANW). The investigators suggest that the proposed intervention - provision of acupuncture in the ED as an alternative to usual ED care - will reduce pain and interrupt the trajectory (and potential cycle) of medication misuse by providing an alternative at a critical point of contact within the healthcare system, potentially disrupting the pathway from ED visit to opioid usage after discharge.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02888340

Run by

Allina Health System

People needed

46

Starts

2016-04-01

Expected to finish

2017-07-06

Last updated by the study team

2018-05-08

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• ≥ 18 years of age
• Ability to communicate in English
• Non-critical status as determined at triage and / or by a clinic provider
• Presentation to the emergency department with acute musculoskeletal, back, pelvic, non-cardiac chest, abdominal, and headache pain (≥ 4 on the numerical rating scale), due to non-penetrating injury. Acute pain is defined by pain occurring within 72 hours of ED presentation (this can be an acute flare-up of a chronic pain condition).

You may not qualify if…

• Current pregnancy
• Need for emergent treatment as determined at triage and / or by a clinic provider (Level 1 or 2 on triage rating scale)
• Bone fracture
• Joint dislocation
• Fever exceeding 100° F
• Opioid medication taken orally within 4 hours (determined per patient report)
• Current use of a pharmaceutical analgesic patch
• Presenting with a chief complaint of a psychological / psychiatric concern
• Presenting with a migraine
• Having a unique treatment plan (UTP) on file with Abbott Northwestern Hospital
• Patient arriving via ambulance due to skipping triage
• Currently participating in this study due to previous ED admission
• Medical provider decision / clinical judgement

Where it is running

• Abbott Northwestern Hospital — Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.