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Utility of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Ambulatory Surgery

Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Utility of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV) in Ambulatory Surgery

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01442012
Acronym
PUCTURE-NVPO
Enrollment
270
Registered
2011-09-28
Start date
2011-09-30
Completion date
2013-04-30
Last updated
2012-10-03

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

Conditions

Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting

Keywords

PONV, ACUPUNCTURE

Brief summary

To evaluate the Utility of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV) in Ambulatory Surgery.

Detailed description

Prospective, randomized, comparative study. The disease to be studied is Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV). PONV, described by some as The Big Little Problem, has a great impact on patient´s satisfaction and the postoperative care needed. Considering the increase of outpatient surgery there is an expanding demand for effective PONV treatment to prevent delays in discharge or unplanned readmissions. The estimated annual costs of PONV in the U.S. per year are 100 million Dollars. Approximately 75 million patients are anesthetized in the world annually. It is estimated that 20-30% of these patients experience PONV, reaching 80% in patients at high risk. This incidence of PONV has maintained despite the improvement in surgical and anesthetic techniques and advances in antiemetic pharmacology. Increasingly, acupuncture is becoming part of Western medicine as a complementary treatment. Acupuncture has been described to effectively reduce the symptoms of different diseases, including PONV.

Interventions

OTHEREar seeds

The investigators will use ear seeds to stimulate acupuncture points. The seeds will be applied when the patients are in the preoperative room. After the patients have been discharged, they will need to stimulate these points every eight hours for five minutes, and every time they have nausea and/or vomiting during the first three postoperative days.

Sponsors

Group G-6
Lead SponsorNETWORK

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Patients of both sexes, aged 18 years and older. * ASA I-II patients who will undergo a surgical procedure under general anesthesia in an ambulatory setting. * Patients who are anticipated to not require admission to the recovery room or intensive care unit. * Patients who, according to clinical criteria of the acupuncturist physician, are likely to benefit from acupuncture. * Patients with a sufficient educational level to complete the health questionnaires required in the study. * Patients who have given their written informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

* Patients with any pathology that under medical discretion makes their participation in the study inadvisable. * Patients who cannot respond to the questionnaires provided during the study. * Patients with known hypersensitivity to the materials of the ear seeds.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Percentage of patients with a score <50 on the PONV Intensity Scale at 72 hours postoperatively.72 hoursThe percentage of patients with a score \<50 on the PONV Intensity Scale (defined as clinically not significant PONV) at 72 hours postoperatively will be assessed in the experimental and control group, respectively. In the experimental group, patients receive cutaneous stimulation and self-stimulation of acupuncture points Pericardium 6, Heart 7 and Stomach 25. In the control (placebo) group, patients receive cutaneous stimulation and self-stimulation of acupuncture points Gall Bladder 34, Kidney 6 and Liver 3.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Evaluation of the postoperative recovery outcome24 hoursEvaluation of the postoperative recovery outcome using the postoperative quality of recovery score QoR-40.
Evaluation of perioperative pain72 hoursEvaluation of perioperative pain using the verbal numerical pain scale
Percentage of patients with a score <50 on the PONV Intensity Scale at 6 and 24 hours postoperatively.6 and 24 hoursThe percentage of patients with a score \<50 on the PONV Intensity Scale (defined as clinically not significant PONV) at 6 und 24 hours postoperatively will be assessed in the experimental and control group, respectively. In the experimental group, patients receive cutaneous stimulation and self-stimulation of acupuncture points Pericardium 6, Heart 7 and Stomach 25. In the control (placebo) group, patients receive cutaneous stimulation and self-stimulation of acupuncture points Gall Bladder 34, Kidney 6 and Liver 3.
Assessment of costs and economic impact of the disease72 hoursAssessment of costs and economic impact of the disease quantifying the use of health and non-health resources
Assessment of need for rescue antiemetic medication72 hoursAssessment of need for rescue antiemetic medication by quantifying the patients who need two or more drugs with antiemetic effect as rescue medication
Assessment of the patient´s satisfaction with the perioperative care72 hoursAssessment of the patient´s satisfaction with the perioperative care using the Leiden perioperative patient satisfaction questionnaire (LPPSq)

Countries

Spain

Contacts

Primary ContactPAULA ORTIZ LUCAS, MD
paula.ortiz.lucas@gmail.com+34 665987652
Backup ContactVALENTIN MARTIN, MD, PhD
CoordinadorG6@gmail.com

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026