Chronic Neck Pain
Conditions
Interventions
healthy controls:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-Paired associative stimulation, TMS-PAS
electroacupuncture group:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-Paired associative stimulation, TMS-PAS
sham acupuncture group:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-Paired associative stimulation TMS-PAS
Sponsors
Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 30 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Inclusion Criteria for Chronic Neck Pain Patients (1) Meet diagnostic criteria for chronic neck pain (ICD-11 code: ME84.2) (2) Primary complaints of neck pain/stiffness or restricted cervical mobility with: - 3 = Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score < 6 (moderate intensity) - Symptom duration = 3 months (3) Right-handedness aged 18-30 years (4) No peripheral stimulation (e.g. acupuncture transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) or central nervous system stimulation (e.g. repetitive TMS [rTMS] transcranial direct current stimulation [tDCS]) within the past 3 months (5) Willingness to receive electroacupuncture treatment with no history of acupuncture syncope (6) Compliance with study protocols and provision of written informed consent 2. Inclusion Criteria for Healthy Volunteers (1) Right-handedness aged 18-30 years (2) Asymptomatic status according to WHO health definition*: "Health is a state of complete physical mental and social well-being not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" - No physical/psychological discomfort reported within the past month (3) No peripheral or central stimulation interventions (as defined above) within the past 3 months (4) Voluntary participation with signed informed consent
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: (1) Neurological disorders including: - Cerebrovascular diseases - Neurodegenerative disorders - Demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (2) Psychiatric disorders: - Schizophrenia - Bipolar disorder (3) Medical history of: - Uncontrolled hypertension (=160/100 mmHg) - Diabetes mellitus with complications - Traumatic brain injury - Malignant tumors - Epilepsy (4) History of illicit drug use or excessive alcohol consumption (5) Metallic implants (e.g. dental prostheses cardiac pacemakers neurostimulators infusion pumps) (6) Contraindications to TMS: - Phobia of TMS procedures - Other TMS-incompatible conditions (7) Pregnancy (confirmed by ß-hCG test) (8) Absolute contraindications to acupuncture: - Local skin lesions (ulceration infection neoplasms) - Coagulopathies or hemorrhagic disorders
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Motor evoked potentials, MEPs;Cortical silent period, CSP;Resting motor threshold, rMT; | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Northwick park neck pain chart, NPQ;Visual analogue scale, VAS; | — |
Countries
China
Contacts
Public ContactChenxin Zhong
Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Outcome results
None listed