Efficacy Study of Acupuncture to Treat the Upper Abdominal Pain of Cancer Patients

Pilot Study of Acupuncture to Alleviate the Upper Abdominal Pain of Cancer Patients Treated With Neurolytic Celiac Plexus Block

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01913574

Enrollment

Registered

2013-08-01

Start date

2013-03-31

Completion date

2014-03-31

Last updated

2021-12-22

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

Conditions

Abdominal Pain

Brief summary

This study is to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture for alleviating the upper abdominal pain of cancer patients

Detailed description

Neurolytic celiac plexus block (NCPB) is a commonly performed procedure in patients with intractable pain due to malignancies involving the upper and mid abdomen. Recently, acupuncture is used as one of alternative interventions to treat cancer-related pains. This pilot study aims to investigate the effectiveness of pain-relief of acupuncture via comparing acupuncture plus NCPB with NCPB alone. Total 14 cancer patients with NCPB will be randomized into two groups of acupuncture and control.

Interventions

DEVICEAcupuncture

Acupuncture is applied three times a week for 20 minutes for 2 weeks (total 6 sessions). 9 Acupuncture points, CV12, CV13, P6, SP4, ST36(bilateral),LI4 (bilateral), LR3 (bilateral), ST34 (bilateral), and GB21(bilateral) are used, and CV12, CV13, ST36, and LR3 are electro-stimulated.

PROCEDURENeurolytic celiac plexus block (NCPB)

An anaesthetic test is performed injecting 2ml mepivacaine. After assessing the efficacy and safety of this test, 10 ml of absolute alcohol is injected via each needle.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Age over 18 years * Upper abdominal pain VAS ≥ 5 * Unresectable abdominal malignancy, moderate or severe abdominal pain poorly controlled with pharmacotherapy. * All patients had advanced cancer diagnosed by histological/cytological examination * Follow-up possible during the clinical trial * Written informed consent voluntarily

Exclusion criteria

* Patient with uncorrectable coagulopathy * Patient with allergy to local anesthesics or alcohol.. * Previous NCPB or had implanted epidural or intrathecal analgesic therapy * Inability to lie prone * Disease encasing the celiac plexus on computed Tomography scan * Patients with psychiatric diseases that could have affected the study assessments * Significant renal or hepatic disease * Inability to comprehend or express oneself in the Korean language * Refusal to participate in the trial or to provide informed consent

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Visual analogue scale(VAS)	Change from baseline to 2 weeks	The patients will be required to document 100mm pain VAS, where '0' represents 'no pain' and '100', 'unbearable pain'. The change of pain will be reported by comparing the mean VAS before treatment, after 1 week, after 2 week, and 1 week follow-up.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Analgesic drug consumption	Change from baseline to 2 weeks	Drug consumption per day will be documented before treatment, after 1 week, after 2 week, and 1 week follow-up.

Countries

South Korea

Outcome results

None listed

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