Does ear acupuncture relieve pain and anxiety in emergency department patients?

Does ear acupuncture relieve pain and anxiety in Emergency Department patients with hip and wrist injuries

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12610000104055

Enrollment

138

Registered

2010-02-02

Start date

2008-12-24

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Pain and anxiety are a common problem in patients presenting to emergency centres with wrist and hip injuries. Previous studies overseas have shown that ear acupuncture has the potential to help decrease pain and anxiety in these patients. Our study aims to see if ear acupuncture given in conjunction with normal pain relief, gives greater benefit than pain relief alone.

Interventions

Group 1 Ear Acupuncture: insertion of Vinco press needles into 2 predefined auricular acupuncture points on ear ipsilateral to site of injury upon presentation to emergency care centre. These points have been traditionally used to treat pain and anxiety.Ear is then covered with an opaque bandage and needles are left in for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

16 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Adults presenting to Emergency Medicine at either North Shore or Waitakere Hospital Emergency Care Centre with painful suspected hip fracture or lower arm injury.

Exclusion criteria

Triage category 1 Inability to give informed consent Bleeding disorder, coagulopathy or taking warfarin Ipsilateral ear injury or skin infection Known sticking plaster allergy Staff feel patient too unwell to participate

Outcome results