Clinical trial · Interventional
Electroacupuncture for Postoperative Ileus After Laparoscopic Surgery for Mid and Low Rectal Cancer
Electroacupuncture for Postoperative Ileus After Laparoscopic Surgery for Mid and Low Rectal Cancer: A Prospective, Randomized, Sham-controlled Trial
NCT03222557CI-TRIAL-00029804unknownN/AClinicalTrials.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)
This is a prospective, randomized, sham-controlled, superiority trial that aimed to investigate the efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) in reducing the duration of postoperative ileus and hospital stay after laparoscopic total mesorectal excision or abdominoperineal resection for rectal 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postoperative Ileus | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Rectal Cancer | Malignant Rectal Neoplasm | CURATED_EXACT | 0.92 |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electroacupuncture | Procedure | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Sham Acupuncture | Procedure | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Electroacupuncture (EA)
- description
- Bilateral acupoints relevant to the treatment of abdominal pain, abdominal distension, and constipation, including Zusanli (stomach meridian ST-36), Sanyinjiao (spleen meridian SP-6), Hegu (large intestine meridian LI-4), and Zhigou (triple energizer meridian TE-6), will be used. Electric stimulation at a frequency of 50 Hz will be employed to the needles
- interventionNames
- Procedure: Electroacupuncture
- Device: Electroacupuncture
- type
- SHAM_COMPARATOR
- label
- Sham Acupuncture (SA)
- description
- Sterile blunt-tip needles will be placed (without skin penetration) 20 mm away from the acupoints. The needle will be first inserted through a sterile plastic tube mounted on a foam block, and then pressed on the skin. The foam block compresses to give the impression that the needle is penetrating the skin, thus providing a SA effect. 'Pseudostimulation' will be given by deliberately connecting the needle to the incorrect output socket of the electroacupuncture device, thus there will be no flow of electric current.
- interventionNames
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Consecutive patients (aged between 18 and 80) with mid/low rectal cancer (adenocarcinoma in the rectum of which the lowest margin of the tumor is located within 12 cm of the anal verge as measured by rigid sigmoidoscopy) undergoing laparoscopic sphincter-preserving TME or APR without the need of conversion * American Society of Anesthesiologists grading I-III * Informed consent available Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with previous experience of acupuncture * Those undergoing simultaneous laparoscopic resection of rectal cancer and other coexisting intraabdominal diseases * Those undergoing laparoscopic resection of rectal cancer with en bloc resection of surrounding organs * Those who developed intraoperative problems or complications (e.g. bleeding, tumor perforation) that required conversion * Those undergoing emergency surgery * Those with previous history of midline laparotomy * Those with evidence of peritoneal carcinomatosis * Those who are expected to receive epidural anesthesia or analgesia * Those with cardiac pacemaker * Those who are pregnant * Those who are allergic to the acupuncture needles
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available
No reference posted for this study.