Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Functional Constipation

November 8, 2015 updated by: Liu Zhishun, Guang'anmen Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Functional Constipation: a Multi-center Randomized Controlled Trial

A multi-center clinical trial done recently by us(NCT00508482) shows that needling on ST25 has the same effect as lactulose in unaided self-defecation frequency of a week and has better effect in symptoms improvement (in press). The object is to evaluate whether acupuncture is effective for functional constipation. As an explanatory research, it took one single point as its intervention and sham acupuncture as its control group (patients were blinded). On the basis of its confirmed effect, we are taking a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to further evaluate whether acupuncture is more effective than routine treatment. Acupuncture prescriptions used in this trial are individually prescribed according to syndrome differentiation, which can improve clinical effect. .

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

functional constipation,acupuncture,effects and safety,pragmatic RCT

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.
684

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.
  • Phase 3

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

  • China
      • Beijing, China, 100053
        • No.5 Beixiange Street, Xuanwu District

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:

  • Patients who has been diagnosed with functional constipation according to Rome Ⅲ criteria
  • Patients who are aged 18-75 years old
  • Stop medication or acupuncture (if any) 1 week before randomization and uninvolved in other trials
  • Sign the informed consent out of one's own will

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Secondary constipation
  • Patients with consciousness impairment, psychotic patients or patients unable to express clearly
  • Patients with malignant tumor in progressive stage, severe wasting disease and liable to be infected and bleed
  • Patients with severe cardiovascular disease, hepatic injury, renal damage, digestive disease or hematological diseases
  • Women in pregnancy and lactation period

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: Single

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.
Experimental: Acupuncture at ST25 and BL25
the points formula of back-shu point combination with front-mu point.
Other: acupuncture

Thrust and lift the needle to achieve De Qi. After being needled, the points will be punctured again using auxiliary needles 2 mm lateral to the first needle, and to a depth of 2 mm without manual stimulation. Put the electric stimulator on the pair of needles with a continuous wave, 20Hz. The current intensity is increased to the patients' maximum tolerance and then slightly reduced to a bearable level (0.1-1.0 mA).

Huatuo Brand needle (φ0.30×25mm,φ0.30×40mm,φ0.30×50mm, produced by Suzhou Medical Appliance Factory) and G6805-1A electro-acupuncture apparatus(produced by Shanghai Huayi Medical Instrument Co. Ltd.) will be used.

Five sessions/week in the first 2 weeks, three sessions/week for in the last 2 weeks.

Other Names:
  • acupuncture and moxibustion
Experimental: Acupuncture at LI11 and ST37
the points formula of He-points
Other: acupuncture

Thrust and lift the needle to achieve De Qi. After being needled, the points will be punctured again using auxiliary needles 2 mm lateral to the first needle, and to a depth of 2 mm without manual stimulation. Put the electric stimulator on the pair of needles with a continuous wave, 20Hz. The current intensity is increased to the patients' maximum tolerance and then slightly reduced to a bearable level (0.1-1.0 mA).

Huatuo Brand needle (φ0.30×25mm,φ0.30×40mm,φ0.30×50mm, produced by Suzhou Medical Appliance Factory) and G6805-1A electro-acupuncture apparatus(produced by Shanghai Huayi Medical Instrument Co. Ltd.) will be used.

Five sessions/week in the first 2 weeks, three sessions/week for in the last 2 weeks.

Other Names:
  • acupuncture and moxibustion
Experimental: Acupuncture at ST25, BL25, LI11 and ST37
the formula of He-point,back-shu point and front-mu point
Other: acupuncture

Thrust and lift the needle to achieve De Qi. After being needled, the points will be punctured again using auxiliary needles 2 mm lateral to the first needle, and to a depth of 2 mm without manual stimulation. Put the electric stimulator on the pair of needles with a continuous wave, 20Hz. The current intensity is increased to the patients' maximum tolerance and then slightly reduced to a bearable level (0.1-1.0 mA).

Huatuo Brand needle (φ0.30×25mm,φ0.30×40mm,φ0.30×50mm, produced by Suzhou Medical Appliance Factory) and G6805-1A electro-acupuncture apparatus(produced by Shanghai Huayi Medical Instrument Co. Ltd.) will be used.

Five sessions/week in the first 2 weeks, three sessions/week for in the last 2 weeks.

Other Names:
  • acupuncture and moxibustion
Active Comparator: medicine
oral use of mosapride citrate
Drug: mosapride citrate
4-week oral use of mosapride citrate, 5mg, three times daily 0.5 hour before meal
Other Names:
  • mosapride citrate,made in China

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
Change of the SBMs From Baseline at Week 4
Time Frame: baseline and at 4 weeks
[average number of spontaneous bowel movements in a week at week 4]-[average number of spontaneous bowel movements in a week at baseline]
baseline and at 4 weeks

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
Change From Baseline in the Bristol Stool Scale at the 4th Week
Time Frame: baseline and at 4 weeks
Bristol stool scale provides illustration of seven stool types. It ranges from 1 to 7 with the meaning that 1 referring to separate hard lumps and 7 referring to watery, no solid pieces. For patients with constipation, a higher score means a better outcome. This outcome means the Bristol Stool Scale at the 4th week-the Bristol Stool Scale at baseline.
baseline and at 4 weeks
Change From Baseline in Difficulty Degree of Defecation at the 4th Week
Time Frame: baseline and at 4 weeks

This outcome describes how much effort the patients with while defecating.It ranges from 0 to 3.

0-Without difficulty

  1. Defecation straining
  2. Severe defecation straining
  3. Defecation with the help of hands, A 0 is considered better than 3 for outcome. Patients score for themselves according to their own feelings.

[the average score of one week at the 4th week]-[the average score of one week at baseline]
baseline and at 4 weeks
Changes of the SBMs From Baseline at Week 8
Time Frame: baseline and at 8 weeks
[average number of spontaneous bowel movements in a week at week 8]-[average number of spontaneous bowel movements in a week at baseline]
baseline and at 8 weeks
Change From Baseline in the Bristol Stool Scale at the 8th Week
Time Frame: baseline and at 8 weeks
Bristol stool scale provides illustration of seven stool types. It ranges from 1 to 7 with the meaning that 1 referring to separate hard lumps and 7 referring to watery, no solid pieces. For patients with constipation, a higher score means a better outcome. This outcome means the Bristol Stool Scale at the 8th week-the Bristol Stool Scale at baseline.
baseline and at 8 weeks
Change From Baseline in Difficulty Degree of Defecation at the 8th Week
Time Frame: baseline and at 8 weeks

This outcome describes how much effort the patients with while defecating. It ranges from 0 to 3.

0-Without difficulty

  1. Defecation straining
  2. Severe defecation straining
  3. Defecation with the help of hands, A 0 is considered better than 3 for outcome. Patients score for themselves according to their own feelings.

[the average score of one week at the 8th week]-[the average score of one week at baseline]
baseline and at 8 weeks

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.
Guang'anmen Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Ministry of Science and Technology of the People´s Republic of China

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.
  • Study Chair: LIU Zhishun, phD, Guang'an Men Hospital Affiliated to China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

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.
September 1, 2011

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.
October 1, 2014

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, 2014

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).
July 28, 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.
August 5, 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.
August 8, 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.
December 11, 2015

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.
November 8, 2015

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.
November 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • 2011CB505202

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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