Acupuncture for Pain in the Emergency Department

Summary

The purpose of the study is to test auricular (ear) acupuncture for the acute management of patient pain in the Emergency Department as an alternative and adjunct to standard medical treatment.

Currently, physicians who practice medicine here in the United States only have pharmacological intervention at their disposal as the only available treatment tool they have for the treatment and management of pain, and as a result, painkiller misuse, overdose, and death has become the leading health epidemic in America. American healthcare is in desperate need of alternative and safer ways to prevent prescription painkiller overdoses and to better manage pain. If prescription painkiller dependencies can be avoided at the source, potentially many lives and healthcare dollars can be saved. Acupuncture is an alternative treatment that has been effectively used to treat pain for thousands of years in countries around the world. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) have stated that acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for the management of pain. Supported by many studies illustrating seventy-five to ninety-nine percent effectiveness in treating pain with an instantaneous drop in pain by twenty-five to eighty percent, acupuncture appears to be the safest and most effective option available to manage pain syndromes in the emergency department.

Auricular acupuncture has demonstrated beneficial effects to reduce acute and chronic pain intensity. Specifically, for the thesis of this clinical trial, the investigators hypothesize that auricular acupuncture can be an effective alternative and/or adjunct treatment tool in the civilian emergency department for the acute management of pain.

In order to test the safety and efficacy of using auricular acupuncture in the emergency department, people presenting to the emergency department with pain who are willing to participate in the study will be randomized into three separate groups:

1. Standard medical group (tape on ear + standard medical drug)
2. Standard medical group plus auricular acupuncture (acupuncture + standard medical drug)
3. Auricular acupuncture group (acupuncture + placebo pill)

The design of these groups will allow the investigators to best test the efficacy of auricular acupuncture versus the placebo effect and standard medical care as well as an adjunct to standard medical care. To accomplish the objective of this proposal, the investigators will pursue the following specific aims:

Specific Aim 1: To prove the efficacy of auricular acupuncture over a placebo group in the management of pain syndromes. By having the acupuncture group and sham acupuncture group, the investigators will be able to effectively compare the difference in pain levels with a placebo-group.

Specific Aim 2: To prove that auricular acupuncture is an effective alternative and/or adjunct to standard medical care in the Emergency Department.

By testing the efficacy of acupuncture in conjunction with standard medical treatment, the investigators expect to see a potentiation of analgesic effects, and this will be noted by an increased reduction in pain between the standard medical plus acupuncture group versus the standard group and acupuncture group.

Specific Aim 3: To prove that auricular acupuncture as an effective pain management alternative that decreases short-term prescription painkiller dependency.

Through a series of follow up questionnaires and a medication diary that the investigators will give to the patient prior to discharge, the investigators will track the patient's need and use of additional pain medications post treatment. These surveys will give a good indication as to the effectiveness of auricular acupuncture to reduce a patient's dependency on painkiller drugs in the short-term setting.

Conditions

• Musculoskeletal Pain
• Pain

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Auricular Acupuncture

Aiguille Semi-Permanent (ASP) acupuncture needles will be used following the Battlefield Acupuncture Protocol

DEVICE

Acupuncture

ASP Needles: Small, semi-permanent acupuncture needles that will be used for acupuncture in the ear or taped over the ear for placebo.

PROCEDURE

Placebo Acupuncture

The ASP needles will be double taped onto the ear for this procedure.

DRUG

hydrocodone / acetaminophen 5mg/325mg

Narcotic/NSAID medication used as the "standard medical treatment"

DRUG

Placebo Pill

Pills will be filled with methylcellulose and administered as a placebo for this intervention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Loma Linda University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Traci Marin, PhD · Assistant Professor-Research Scientist

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

89 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-07-27

Primary Completion

2017-09-30

Completion

2017-09-30