Effect of Electroacupuncture on the Incidence of Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients Undergoing the Major Surgery

June 19, 2026 updated by: Jianbo Yu, Tianjin Nankai Hospital

Effect of Electroacupuncture on the Incidence of Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients Undergoing the Major Surgery：a Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial

  1. Title: Effect of electroacupuncture on the incidence of postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing the major surgery.
  2. Research center: Multicenter
  3. The Design of the study: Randomized, double-blind, controlled study
  4. The population of the study: Elderly patients（65≤age<90 years），it is planned to select a period/time limit for gastrointestinal tumor surgery, bile duct surgery, thoracic surgery or orthopedic surgery and so on under general anesthesia, and the estimated operation time≥ 2 hours.
  5. Sample size: Enroll 1100 patients (550 patients in each group)
  6. Interventions: Participants in the treatment group received acupuncture (0.30mm×70mm) at bilaterally Shenmen (HT7) acupoints (0.3-0.5 inch), Neiguan (PC6) acupoints (0.5-1 inch), Baihui (DU20) acupoint (0.5-0.8 inch) and Yintang (EX-HN3) acupoint (0.3-0.5 inch) 30 minutes before anesthesia induction. After "Deqi", electroacupuncture stimulation apparatus (HANS G6805-2, Huayi Co, Shanghai, China) is connected and maintained the end of operation. Participants in the control group received shallow needling (0.30mm×25mm) at bilateral sham HT7, PC6, DU20 and EX-HN3 (nonacupoints located 1 inch beside acupoints, about 20mm). Specifically, the depth of needle insertion into nonacupoints is 3-5mm and avoided manual stimulation and no "Deqi" without actual current output.
  7. The aim of the research: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture on the incidence of postoperative delirium within 5 days in elderly patients undergoing the major surgery.
  8. Outcome： 1) Primary outcome：The incidence of delirium within 5 days after surgery； 2) Secondary outcome：The effects on postoperative NRS pain and sleep quality scores；Length of stay in hospital after surgery; Incidence of postoperative complications (including re-hospitalization); 30-day life quality and cognitive function after surgery; All-cause 30-day mortality after surgery.
  9. The estimated duration of the study：5 years.

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

This study is a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled design. In this study, bilateral Shenmen, Neiguan, Baihui and Yintang acupoints were selected for perioperative electroacupuncture treatment, accompanied with evaluating the incidence of delirium within 5 days after surgery and the effects on postoperative NRS pain and sleep quality scores. To clarify the effect of electroacupuncture on the incidence of postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing the major surgery is of great significance to the clinical applications and popularization of traditional acupuncture treatment perioperatively across the world.

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.
1100

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

  • China
    • Tianjin Municipality
      • Tianjin, Tianjin Municipality, China, 300100
        • Electroacupuncture Apparatus

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

65 years to 90 years (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age≥65 and <90 years old；
  2. Planning to undergo select timed/limited surgery such as gastrointestinal tumor surgery, bile duct surgery and thoracic surgery etc under general anesthesia, and the estimated operation time is more than 2 hours;；
  3. Treatment without radiotherapy or chemotherapy prior to surgery；
  4. Agree to participate in this study and sign informed consent；

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Refuse to participate in this study；
  2. Preoperative history of schizophrenia, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, or myasthenia gravis；
  3. Inability to communicate in the preoperative period to complete preoperative evaluation because of severe dementia, coma, language barrier；
  4. Brain injury or neurosurgery；
  5. Critical condition (if the ASA grade is greater than or equal to grade IV before surgery); Severe renal impairment (dialysis treatment before surgery); Severe liver function impairment (Child-Pugh level C); Preoperative combined with severe heart disease, LVEF < 30%;
  6. Previous experience of acupoint stimulation therapy or non-insensitive to acupoint stimulation；
  7. The attending physician or researcher considers that there are other circumstances (reasons to be noted) that are not suitable for participation in this 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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

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.
Sham Comparator: sham electroacupuncture treatment
Participants in the control group received shallow needling (0.30mm×25mm) at bilateral sham HT7, PC6, DU20 and EX-HN3 (nonacupoints located 1 inch beside acupoints, about 20mm). Specifically, the depth of needle insertion into nonacupoints is 3-5mm and avoided manual stimulation and no "Deqi" without actual current output.
Device: sham electroacupuncture treatment
Participants in the sham electroacupuncture group received shallow needling (0.30mm×25mm) at bilateral sham HT7, PC6, DU20 and EX-HN3 (nonacupoints located 1 inch beside acupoints, about 20mm). Specifically, the depth of needle insertion into nonacupoints is 3-5mm and avoided manual stimulation and no "Deqi" without actual current output, and retained the needle until the end of surgery.
Experimental: electroacupuncture treatment
Participants in the treatment group received acupuncture (0.30mm×70mm) at bilaterally Shenmen (HT7) acupoints (0.3-0.5 inch), Neiguan (PC6) acupoints (0.5-1 inch), Baihui (DU20) acupoint (0.5-0.8 inch) and Yintang (EX-HN3) acupoint (0.3-0.5 inch) 30 minutes before anesthesia induction. After "Deqi", electroacupuncture stimulation apparatus (Hwato, DSZ-III, Suzhou Medical Supplies Factory Co. LTD) is connected and maintained the end of operation.
Device: electroacupuncture treatment
Participants in the electroacupuncture group received acupuncture (0.30mm×70mm) at bilaterally Shenmen (HT7) acupoints (0.3-0.5 inch), Neiguan (PC6) acupoints (0.5-1 inch), Baihui (DU20) acupoint (0.5-0.8 inch) and Yintang (EX-HN3) acupoint (0.3-0.5 inch) 30 minutes before anesthesia induction. After "Deqi", electroacupuncture stimulation apparatus is connected with the density wave (2/100 Hz), width 0.25 ms, intensity of 1 ~ 5 mA (gradually increase to the patient's maximum tolerance) and maintained the end of operation.

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
The incidence of delirium within 5 days after surgery
Time Frame: preoperative and the first 5 consecutive days after surgery
Using confusion assessment method (CAM) or CAM-ICU methods to assess delirium
preoperative and the first 5 consecutive days after surgery

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
The effects on postoperative pain scores
Time Frame: preoperative and the first 5 consecutive days after surgery
NRS method is used to evaluate the pain scores of patients (0 points to complete Painless, 10 points to the maximum pain that can be tolerated)
preoperative and the first 5 consecutive days after surgery
The effects on postoperative sleep quality scores
Time Frame: preoperative and the first 5 consecutive days after surgery.
Using the NRS method (0 for the best quality of sleep and 10 for the worst quality of sleep)
preoperative and the first 5 consecutive days after surgery.
Length of stay in hospital after surgery
Time Frame: From the end of surgery to hospital discharge, assessed up to 30 days after surgery.
Duration of postoperative hospitalization after surgery
From the end of surgery to hospital discharge, assessed up to 30 days after surgery.
Incidence of non-delirium complications during the first 30 days after surgery (including re-hospitalization)
Time Frame: From the end of surgery through postoperative day 30.
Incidence of postoperative complications other than delirium, including cardiac events, cerebrovascular events, renal injury, infection, and rehospitalization.
From the end of surgery through postoperative day 30.
All-cause 30-day mortality after surgery
Time Frame: From the end of surgery through postoperative day 30.
All reasons (such as infection, hemorrhage) caused the mortality during the first 30 days after surgery
From the end of surgery through postoperative day 30.

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.
Tianjin Nankai Hospital

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.
First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University
First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University
Liuzhou Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital
Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine
Characteristic Medical Center of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force
Tianjin Jinghai District Hospital

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: Jianbo Yu, MD,PhD, Tianjin Nankai Hospital

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 (Actual)

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 7, 2018

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 31, 2022

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.
October 31, 2022

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 2, 2018

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.
July 28, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

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.
July 31, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
June 24, 2026

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.
June 19, 2026

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.
June 1, 2026

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.
  • NKYY_YX_IRB_2017_036_02
  • TJYXZDXK-3-013B (Other Identifier: Tianjin Key Medical Discipline Construction Project)
  • Z-2017-24-2504 (Other Identifier: Anesthesiology Talent Cultivation Program of the Chinese Society of Anesthesiology)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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