Veteran Ear Acupuncture Pilot Project

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Chronic Pain Syndrome, Pain, Fibromyalgia, Low Back Pain, Neuropathic Pain, Neuropathy, Painful, Musculoskeletal Pain, Chronic Pain

In brief

Veterans who have responded well to Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA), a form of auricular acupuncture, in routine clinical practice will be invited to receive education to insert the needles themselves at home. A 3D-printed wearable prosthetic will also be explored as a means to facilitate needle placement. Primary end-points will include whether adverse events occur over a six-month period and whether the aforementioned prosthesis significantly facilitates needle placement in terms of subjective ease of administration.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04208659

Run by

Chillicothe VA Medical Center

People needed

12

Starts

2020-02-27

Expected to finish

2021-07-01

Last updated by the study team

2021-11-01

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 120. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Clinical diagnosis of chronic pain from any etiology
• Participant is physically and cognitively able to self-administer auricular acupuncture. This will be determined by the investigator during the educational sessions.
• Participants taking anti-coagulant or anti-platelet medications will be allowed to participate if they acknowledge an increased risk of bleeding

You may not qualify if…

• Condition causing ongoing immunocompromised state (e.g. overt AIDS, chemotherapy, anti-rejection medications)
• Acquired or congenital defects in the tympanic membrane
• Pregnancy
• Severe cognitive impairment
• Physical disability precluding self-administration of auricular acupuncture
• History of severe vasovagal reaction to acupuncture needling
• History of endocarditis
• History of artificial heart valve
• History of implanted device to support cardiac function
• Participation will be terminated for participants who use the acupuncture needles in any way other than instructed
• Exclusion criteria include those who do not wish to participate and those who have significant contraindications to AA (auricular acupuncture) or indwelling acupuncture. These include: being immunocompromised, congenital or acquired defects in the tympanic membrane, pregnancy, severe cognitive impairment, inability to perform BFA on themselves. Medical anti-coagulation is not an automatic exclusion as many patients on these medications will not have any issues with bleeding with BFA. Those who have history of severe vasovagal/syncopal or other adverse response to skin puncture will also be excluded. Those with artificial heart valves or those with a history of heart valve infection are excluded because of risk of endocarditis. Pregnant patients will be excluded from this study to eliminate the possibility of harm to pregnant patients and developing children. Medical conditions that would exclude someone from using BFA include: 1) those with replacement heart valves; 2) those with history of heart valve infection; 3) those who are pregnant; 4) those who have a pacemaker, defibrillator, or other similar electronic device; 5) those who are afraid of needles, 6) those who are scheduled for an MRI; 7) those with non-medication induced bleeding disorders.
• Participants will be removed from the study if it is discovered they are using the needles in a manner that is inconsistent with the protocol.

Where it is running

• Chillicothe VA Medical Center — Chillicothe, Ohio, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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