The Effect of 5 Times Dry Cupping in the Treatment of Chronic Neck Pain (TS)

August 18, 2011 updated by: Universität Duisburg-Essen

Randomised Controlled Pilot Study: the Effect of Dry Cupping on Pain and Sensory Thresholds in the Treatment of Chronic Non Specific Neck Pain

The study aims to investigate the influence of 5 dry cupping treatments on chronic non specific neck pain. 50 patients with neck pain are randomised into cupping treatment and waiting list control group at T0 (Day 0). At T1 (Day 7)the investigators evaluate the neck pain (VAS), the neck related disability (NDI), pain related to movement (PRTM) and the quality of life (SF36). To investigate neurophysiological effects of cupping we also measure mechanical detection threshold (MDT), vibration detection threshold (VDT) and pressure pain threshold (PPT) at pain related and control areas. The treatment group then receives 5 cupping treatments over a period of two weeks. After the cupping series resp. a waiting period for the waiting list control group (T2, Day 25) all measurements from T1 are repeated (VAS, NDI, PRTM, SF36, MDT, PPT, VDT). At last, a pain and medication diary is filled in by the patients from T0(Day 0) until T2 (Day 25). The investigators hypothesize, that cupping treatment is effective against neck pain (diary, VAS, NDI, PRTM, SF36) and that it leads to changes on perceptual level (MDT, VDT, PPT), when compared to the waiting list control group.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

see above

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
50

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Germany
    • NRW
      • Essen, NRW, Germany, 45276
        • Knappschaftskrankenhaus

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • age between 18 and 75
  • permanent neck pain for at least three months in a row
  • a minimum of 40mm of neck pain on a 100mm visual analogue scale (VAS)
  • having been in treatment to an orthopaedic or to a neurologist

Exclusion Criteria:

  • neck pain caused by trauma, inflammatory or malignant disease, by congenital malformation of the spine or if pain was accompanied by radicular symptoms such as radiating pain, paresis, prickling or tingling.
  • invasive treatments within the last 4 weeks, surgery to the spine within the last year, corticosteroid or opioid treatment.
  • serious acute or chronic organic disease such as diabetes or cancer, mental disorders, pregnancy, and haemorrhagic tendency or anticoagulation treatment.
  • non steroidal pain medication and physiotherapy were allowed if the treatment regimen was not altered for four weeks before and continued during the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
No Intervention: Waiting list control group
No treatment within the study period, were allowed to continue physiotherapy and medication. Were offered the treatment after finishing the study
Active Comparator: Treatment group
Received the 5 cupping treatments, application twice a week, non standardised application - individual determinations of trigger points
Procedure: Dry Cupping or fire cupping
5 dry cupping treatments, application twice a week, non standardised procedure
Other Names:
  • Cupping is: heating glas cups to create a vacuum on the skin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain intensity
Time Frame: at T2 (Day 25)
100mm Visual Analogue Scale
at T2 (Day 25)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
pain related to movement
Time Frame: at T2 (Day 25)
100mm Visual Analogue Scale for 6 movement directions (Irnich, BMJ 2001)
at T2 (Day 25)
pain diary
Time Frame: from T0 (Day 0) to T2 (Day25)
Daily rating of pain intensity (numeric rating scale from 0-10)
from T0 (Day 0) to T2 (Day25)
Neck disability index
Time Frame: at T2 (Day 25)
NDI measures neck pain complaints (Vernon und Mior 1991)
at T2 (Day 25)
Quality of Life SF-36
Time Frame: at T2 (Day 25)
the sf-36 is a short form health survey consisting of 8 scales to measure functional health and wellbeing (Bullinger & Kirchberger 1998)
at T2 (Day 25)
mechanical detection threshold MDT
Time Frame: at T2 (Day 25)
by von Frey filaments to measure perception threshold for light touch (Rolke, Pain, 2006)
at T2 (Day 25)
vibration detection threshold VDT
Time Frame: at T2 (Day 25)
with a tuning fork to measure perception threshold for vibration (Rolke, Pain, 2006)
at T2 (Day 25)
pressure pain threshold PPT
Time Frame: at T2 (Day 25)
with a pressure gauge algometer to determine threshold for painful pressure (Rolke, Pain, 2006) on the area of maximal neck pain, the adjacent and hand and foot
at T2 (Day 25)
Side effects
Time Frame: from T1 (Day 7) to T2 (Day 25)
open question on any side effects or other experiences with the treatment
from T1 (Day 7) to T2 (Day 25)
Medication diary
Time Frame: From T0 (Day 0) to T2 (Day 25)
patient report used medication during the study period (amount, dose)
From T0 (Day 0) to T2 (Day 25)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Universität Duisburg-Essen

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Gustav J Dobos, Prof. MD, University of Duisburg-Essen, Chair of Complementary and Integrative Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 31, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 3, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 4, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 19, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 18, 2011

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • DryCupping2009

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