Is there a role for acupuncture in basal thumb arthritis? A randomised controlled trial of real versus sham acupuncture.

A single-blind randomised controlled trial assessing pain relief following real or sham acupuncture in adults with symptomatic thumb carpometacarpal joint arthritis.

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN31227822

Enrollment

Registered

2018-06-14

Start date

2009-06-23

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2021-08-02

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

Conditions

Osteoarthritis of the thumb carpometacarpal joint Musculoskeletal Diseases Osteoarthritis

Interventions

Patients were allocated blind in order of recruitment according to a randomisation list (nQuery Advisor v6.01 software, mixed block-size randomisation sequence) to either acupuncture (treatment arm, p

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Acupuncture-naïve 2. Newly referred to either surgical or therapist clinics at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre (PHC) with osteoarthritis of the basal thumb joint 3. Where both hands were affected, the worst affected hand according to the Nelson Hospital Questionnaire (NHQ) score was treated

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Prior experience of acupuncture 2. Previous surgery to the affected thumb 3. Steroid injection to the affected joint within 12 months 4. Change in treatment to the affected thumb within 6 weeks e.g. splint/exercise regime, or ongoing changes in symptoms following such a change 5. Contraindication to acupuncture: warfarin with unstable INR, epilepsy, pregnancy, needle phobia, unstable cardiac condition or hypertension, prosthetic heart valve, vascular or neuropathic problem at the proposed site of needling 6. Inability to understand written and spoken English, or to give informed consent

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Pain relief was assessed using visual analogue pain scores (VAS) during an objective assessment of range of motion and strength, at pre-treatment and 1 week post-treatment.	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. Measurements of motion were taken using a standardised protocol (Adams, Greene and Topoozian, 1992) and strength was measured using Jamar grip and pinch meters, both valid reliable and accurate assessment tools (Mathiowetz et al, 1984). 2. Patient rated functional outcome was measured by the pre- and 1 week post-treatment scores using the Nelson Hospital questionnaire (NHQ) (Citron et al, 2007). 3. The duration of any improvement was assessed by patients completing the NHQ again by post or telephone at 2-weekly intervals post treatment until either 12 weeks had passed or their score had returned to the pre-treatment baseline. 4. Each patient’s perceived acupuncture experience was assessed by recording their pre-treatment expectations, their needling sensations, and by recording their post-treatment opinions of acupuncture. The Southampton Needling Questionnaire (White et al, 2008) is designed to assess the quality of needling by recording desirable and undesirable sensations and was used after first and last treatments.	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Measurements of motion were taken using a standardised protocol (Adams, Greene and Topoozian, 1992) and strength was measured using Jamar grip and pinch meters, both valid reliable and accurate assessment tools (Mathiowetz et al, 1984). 2. Patient rated functional outcome was measured by the pre- and 1 week post-treatment scores using the Nelson Hospital questionnaire (NHQ) (Citron et al, 2007). 3. The duration of any improvement was assessed by patients completing the NHQ again by post or telephone at 2-weekly intervals post treatment until either 12 weeks had passed or their score had returned to the pre-treatment baseline. 4. Each patient’s perceived acupuncture experience was assessed by recording their pre-treatment expectations, their needling sensations, and by recording their post-treatment opinions of acupuncture. The Southampton Needling Questionnaire (White et al, 2008) is designed to assess the quality of needling by recording desirable and undesirable sensations and was used after first and last treatments.

—

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026