MedTrace Logo

Acupuncture for Tonsillectomy Pain

NCT01389349 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 130

Last updated 2012-05-18

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Pain after tonsillectomy can be severe and last ten days.

Various new surgical instruments have been developed over the years in an attempt to reduce postoperative pain with mixed results and increased costs; no single tonsillectomy technique is superior to the rest. Patients are discharged to home usually on the day of surgery and often suffer significant pain and nausea. Pain medication is often prescribed which can cause nausea, vomiting and constipation. Children in pain are reluctant to take in fluids and may require intravenous hydration at an emergency department.

"Battlefield acupuncture " has been recently developed by the US Air Force and is now being used in Iraq and Afghanistan on wounded warriors suffering severe acute pain from trauma. This protocol consists of five acupuncture points on the outer ear.

A recent study has demonstrated decreased pain and agitation in children undergoing ear tube insertion. Ear tube patients have mild discomfort compared to tonsillectomy patients and are able to attend school the next day.

The investigators have been encouraged by the benefits of acupuncture during surgery for ear tube patients and also wounded warriors recovering from their injuries. These findings motivated us to see if acupuncture during tonsillectomy surgery would result in less pain and nausea.

Conditions

Interventions

OTHER

Acupuncture

Battlefield acupuncture protocol

OTHER

Sham Control

Sham control acupuncture

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego

    collaborator OTHER

  • Children's ENT of San Diego, Inc.

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
2 Years
Max Age
17 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2011-07-31
Primary Completion
2012-05-31
Completion
2012-05-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01389349 on ClinicalTrials.gov