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2015-03
2020-03-01
2020-03-01
1
NCT02333409
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Chinese University of Hong Kong
INTERVENTIONAL
Acupuncture for Pain Control in Patients With Inoperable Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in Hong Kong. Patients suffering from pancreatic cancer are associated with a poor prognosis and survival of less than one year is expected in inoperable tumours (1). Management of these patients would be towards palliation of symptoms. Severe pain occurs in 50 to 70% of the patients and this "intractable" pain is often difficult to treat (2). Pain management is a major part of the comprehensive therapy in patients with pancreatic cancer, and it also affects their quality of life. Electroacupuncture seems to be a promising way to control the cancer pain and reduce the dose and side effects of pain killers including opioid. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture in reducing pancreatic cancer pain in patients suffering from inoperable pancreatic cancer.
Patients suffering from pancreatic cancer are associated with a poor prognosis and survival of less than one year is expected in inoperable tumours. Management of these patients would be towards palliation of symptoms. Severe pain occurs in 50 to 70% of the patients and this "intractable" pain is often difficult to treat. Pain management is a major part of the comprehensive therapy in patients with pancreatic cancer, and it also affects their quality of life. Different pharmacological agents have been used in the past to control this pain and these include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and narcotic agents. However, these agents are associated with their own adverse effects and may further impair quality of life. Radiotherapy and celiac plexus neurolysis also can relieve the cancer pain, patients' responses are often variable and difficult to predict. Recently, more and more studies were focused on the acupuncture for cancer pain. Electroacupuncture (EA) analgesia seems to be a promising way to control the cancer pain and reduce the dose and side effects of analgesics. The latest review in 2012 showed that acupuncture might be an effective analgesic adjunctive method for cancer pain after concluding the results of 15 randomized-control trials. Nevertheless, studies focused on patients with pancreatic cancer and results from randomized trials are lacking. This study aims to investigate the efficacy and effectiveness of EA analgesia for patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer.
These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.
| Study Registration Dates | Results Reporting Dates | Study Record Updates |
|---|---|---|
2014-12-23 | N/A | 2020-07-15 |
2015-01-05 | N/A | 2020-07-17 |
2015-01-07 | N/A | 2020-07 |
This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Primary Purpose:
Treatment
Allocation:
Randomized
Interventional Model:
Parallel
Masking:
Triple
Arms and Interventions
| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Electroacupuncture A Hong Kong registered Chinese Medicine practitioner will give Electroacupuncture treatments. Patients will be treated in a comfortable prone position. Jiaji (Ex-B2) points form T8 to T12 bilaterally are chosen based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) | PROCEDURE: Electroacupuncture
|
| SHAM_COMPARATOR: Sham For placebo acupuncture, sham placebo acupuncture needles (DongBang AcuPrime Acupuncture Inc., South Korea) will be used. Its validity and credibility have been well demonstrated. The needles with blunt tips are quickly put onto the same points used in th | PROCEDURE: Electroacupuncture
|
| Primary Outcome Measures | Measure Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| pain scores in numeric rating scale (NRS) | Pain Score | 1 Month after Procedure |
| Secondary Outcome Measures | Measure Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural discomfort | Discomfort feeling on visual analog scale (from 0 which implies no discomfort at all, to 100 which implies the worst discomfort imaginable) | Day 0 after procedure |
| Willingness to repeat procedure | Patient's willingness to repeat the procedure | 1 Month after Procedure |
| Morbidities related to the procedures | Morbidities related to the procedures | 1 Month after Procedure |
| Quality of Life scores | Quality of Life | 1 Month after Procedure |
This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person’s general health condition or prior treatments.
Ages Eligible for Study:
ALL
Sexes Eligible for Study:
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.
General Publications
No publications available
