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Acupuncture Versus Sham Acupuncture for Tinnitus

NCT07700069 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 226

Last updated 2026-07-13

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This multicenter, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial will evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for patients with subjective idiopathic tinnitus. A total of 226 eligible participants will be randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or sham acupuncture. Both groups will receive treatment for 5 weeks. The primary outcome is the change in Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score from baseline to Week 5. Secondary outcomes include tinnitus loudness, tinnitus severity, sleep quality, anxiety, depression, audiological assessments, and adverse events. Exploratory neuroimaging outcomes include functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography measures.

Conditions

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Acupuncture

Standardized acupuncture treatment will be administered twice weekly for 5 consecutive weeks, with 10 sessions in total. Acupuncture will be performed at Tinghui (GB2), Shuaigu (GB8), Taixi (KI3), Taibai (SP3), Yifeng (TE17), and Zhigou (TE6). Needles will be inserted according to standardized acupoint locations and retained for 20 minutes. Participants will also receive tinnitus-related health education.

PROCEDURE

Sham Acupuncture

Non-penetrating sham acupuncture will be administered twice weekly for 5 consecutive weeks, with 10 sessions in total. The same acupoints as the acupuncture group will be used. Blunt-tip needles will contact the skin surface without skin penetration or manual needle manipulation. Needles will be retained for 20 minutes. Participants will also receive tinnitus-related health education.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

    collaborator OTHER

  • Longhua Hospital

    collaborator OTHER

  • Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Yun Li, MD · Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-07-10
Primary Completion
2026-12-31
Completion
2027-03-31

Countries

  • China

Study Locations

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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 NCT07700069 on ClinicalTrials.gov