Clinical trial · Interventional
Acupuncture for Post-Thoracotomy Pain
Acupuncture for Post-Thoracotomy Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial
NCT00142532CI-TRIAL-00001899completedPhase 3ClinicalTrials.gov clinicaltrialsProvenance
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Pain after surgery for lung cancer (thoracotomy) may persist for years and require long-term analgesic use. Prior studies have shown that acupuncture reduces pain and medication use in the early post-operative period after abdominal surgery, suggesting that acupuncture may have a role in preventing chronic post-thoracotomy pain. This study is being done in order to determine the effects of acupuncture on pain in patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer.
Conditions
Conditions (2)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lung Cancer | Malignant Lung Neoplasm | CURATED_EXACT | 0.92 |
| Pain | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acupuncture and Questionnaires | Procedure | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Placebo Acupuncture, Questionnaires | Procedure | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- 1
- description
- At the time of pre-op preparation, 18 semi-permanent intradermal acupuncture studs will be placed at acupuncture points in the back, two will be placed in the legs and two in the ear. All studs will be replaced when the epidural is removed or, for patients without epidurals, shortly before discharge. The new leg and auricular studs will then be removed at eleven days; the new back studs will be removed at the three week post-discharge consult.
- interventionNames
- Procedure: Acupuncture and Questionnaires
- type
- PLACEBO_COMPARATOR
- label
- 2
- description
- The treatment is the same as for the true acupuncture group, with the following exceptions. The studs in the back will be dummy studs have no needle and that have been used in previous research at MSKCC. The back studs will be placed halfway between the upper and lower border of spinous processes T2 to T10, approximately 0.5 cun (\~1.25cm) from the spine. The leg studs will be placed at 2 cun (\~5cm) posterior to GB34 on the posterior of the lower leg. No studs will be placed in the ear; rather studs will be placed on the anterior arm, 3 cun (\~ 5cm) proximal and 3 cun (\~ 5cm) medial to the midpoint of the antecubital crease. Numerical rating scale of pain; total opioid use; Medication Quantification Scale; length of stay; Brief Pain Inventory
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients undergoing unilateral thoracotomy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) * Age greater than or equal to 18 years old. Exclusion Criteria: * Any of the following procedures: hemiclamshell, clamshell, extrapleural approach, chest wall involvement, esophagectomy. These more extensive procedures have a higher risk of complications. * Acupuncture treatment in the previous six weeks, to discount any persisting effect of acupuncture * Platelets \< 20,000 or International Normalized Ratio (INR) \> 2.5 or absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \< 0.5; though it would be unusual for any patient to be operated on with such values, it seems wise as a precautionary measure to avoid risk of bleeding from acupuncture. * Known cardiac conditions constituting a high or moderate risk of endocarditis as defined by the American Heart Association criteria * Patients unable to remove studs without assistance, who have no home assistance, and who are unable or unwilling to return to the hospital in the event that they decide to remove studs before the post-discharge visit.
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available
No reference posted for this study.