Auriculo-Nerve Stimulation on Post-Operative Opioid Requirement

Completed · Not applicable · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Opioid Use, Auriculotherapy, Pain, Abdominal, Cancer Pain, Liver Transplant

In brief

The NSS-2 BRIDGE® device (NSS stands for Neuro-Stimulation System) is a disposable device that stimulates the branches of cranial nerves and of the superficial cervical plexus innervating the ear. Because the stimulation of the nerves of the ear by the NSS-2 BRIDGE® device (NBD®) has been shown to modulate pain pathways in rodents, decrease abdominal pain in adolescents with inflammatory bile syndrome and due to the results of our preliminary pilot study, the investigators hypothesized that this technique may also be effective in reducing the requirement for postoperative opioids and provide a non-pharmacological alternative to perioperative opioid use. To establish the role that the stimulation of the nerves of the ear may have in reducing postoperative opioid requirement, the investigators are proposing to conduct a randomized, placebo controlled study in patients undergoing open abdominal or pelvic surgery requiring at least 5 days of hospitalization. Subjects who have signed an informed consent will be randomized in 2 groups (active NBD® group or inactive NBD® group). Furthermore, since preoperative and postoperative mood disorders have been shown to increase postoperative pain levels and opioid requirement by up to 50%, the investigators further hypothesize that the stimulation of the ear nerves by the NSS-2 BRIDGE® effects may be in part mediated by a reduction of the level of anxiety, depression and catastrophizing as assessed using validated questionnaires.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT05506878
Run by: Jacques E. Chelly
People needed: 286
Starts: 2022-10-24
Expected to finish: 2026-04-13
Last updated by the study team: 2026-07-24

Who can join

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

You may qualify if…

Over 18 years of age
Scheduled for elective open primary abdominal and pelvic colorectal cancer resection surgical procedures at UPMC Shadyside Hospital, UPMC Magee-Women's Hospital, or UPMC Passavant Hospital and following the standard ERAS protocol. OR scheduled for a living-donor liver transplant surgery at UPMC Montefiore Hospital under the ERAS protocol.
Expected hospital stay of approximately 5 days

You may not qualify if…

Patients who are considered by the medical or surgical team to not be able to give consent
Clinical evidence of anxiety, depression, including suicidal ideation. The diagnostic will be based on medical history, the current treatment, and the clinical examination. The PI or Co-I will be the one making the determination to enroll the subject after the subject undergoes psychosocial testing included in the protocol and that corresponding scores have been established. These tests will only be conducted after the patient has signed an informed consent form.
Chronic pain condition that at the discretion of the PI, should exclude the subject from participating -or- chronic opioid use defined as daily use of 60 mg of oral opioid equivalent. The diagnostic will be based on the medical history, the current treatment, and the clinical examination. The PI or Co-I will be the one making the determination to enroll the subject.
True allergy to all opioid medications. The diagnostic will be based on the medical history, and the determination of the symptoms associated with the recorded allergy. The PI or Co-I will be the one making the determination to enroll the subject.
History of or current alcohol abuse (defined as daily use of more than 1 liter of wine and/or 3 or more shots of hard liquor) or drug abuse (defined as daily use of illicit drugs) for at least 3 months. The PI or Co-I will be the one making the determination to enroll the subject.
Surgical procedure performed laparoscopically
Non elective surgery
Pregnancy
Contraindication for use of NBD® (including patients with cardiac pacemaker, hemophilia, and psoriasis vulgaris diagnosis and/or ear eczema)
Patients intubated with sedation, and/or receiving fentanyl infusion for sedation post-surgery.
Rapid recovery surgeries
Subjects with a diagnosed seizure disorder
Use of dexmedetomidine in the ICU

Where it is running

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center - Magee-Womens Hospital — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
UPMC Montefiore Hospital — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center - Shadyside Hospital — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center - Passavant Hospital — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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