Efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of pain in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: A protocol of a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Status

Unknown

Phases

Phase 1

Study type

Interventional

Source

TCTR

Registry ID

TCTR20220626001

Enrollment

Registered

2022-06-26

Start date

2022-08-08

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-08-03

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

Conditions

Pain is one of the most important clinical symptoms in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients. Conventional analgesic programs can not effectively solve the pain of patients, and long-term medication accompanied by adverse reactions. There is evidence that acupuncture can relieve pain in cancer patients. Although acupuncture has been used in the treatment of cancer pain such as lung cancer, stomach cancer and liver cancer pain, and got pos

Interventions

1.Treatment group and control group were given three steps analgesic program. Details are as follows: the use of opioids will be based on the WHO 3-tiered cancer pain ladder. Patients with moderate an

Experimental Other

acupuncture

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 75 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1.Patients who are in accordance with the diagnosis of HCC (the diagnostic criteria refer to Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of HCC (Version 2019) 2. Aged: 18 to 75 years old, stable and conscious; 3. Patients who have moderate and severe pain, and the 11-point numerical rating scale (NRS) score greater than 4 4. Patients whose expected survival is greater than 6 months; 5.Patients who have strong compliance and have signed informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Patients who are accompanied by infectious diseases, diseases of blood system; 2. Patients who have history of acupuncture syncope; 3. Women in pregnancy or lactation; 4. Patients who have pain associated with causes other than HCC; 5. Skin ulceration at the needling site.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
11-point numerical rating scale (NRS) 14 days Pain will be measured from 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being severe pain.	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Times of morphine use 4 weeks the research assistant will count the total times of morphine use in both groups at the end of treatment	—

Countries

China

Contacts

Public ContactYong Mei

Liyuan Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of science and technology, Wuhan, Hubei

drmeiyong@126.com13871077546

Outcome results

None listed

Source: TCTR (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Aug 9, 2026