Acupuncture for Tonsillectomy Pain

May 17, 2012 updated by: James W Ochi, M.D., Children's ENT of San Diego, Inc.

Pain after tonsillectomy can be severe and last ten days.

Various new surgical instruments have been developed over the years in an attempt to reduce postoperative pain with mixed results and increased costs; no single tonsillectomy technique is superior to the rest. Patients are discharged to home usually on the day of surgery and often suffer significant pain and nausea. Pain medication is often prescribed which can cause nausea, vomiting and constipation. Children in pain are reluctant to take in fluids and may require intravenous hydration at an emergency department.

"Battlefield acupuncture " has been recently developed by the US Air Force and is now being used in Iraq and Afghanistan on wounded warriors suffering severe acute pain from trauma. This protocol consists of five acupuncture points on the outer ear.

A recent study has demonstrated decreased pain and agitation in children undergoing ear tube insertion. Ear tube patients have mild discomfort compared to tonsillectomy patients and are able to attend school the next day.

The investigators have been encouraged by the benefits of acupuncture during surgery for ear tube patients and also wounded warriors recovering from their injuries. These findings motivated us to see if acupuncture during tonsillectomy surgery would result in less pain and nausea.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

130

Phase

  • 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

  • United States
    • California
      • El Centro, California, United States, 92243
        • Children's Specialty Clinic
      • San Diego, California, United States, 92123
        • Rady Children's Hospital San Diego

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

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years to 17 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children 2 to 17 years of age who need tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy with or without myringotomy tube(s)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Developmental Delay

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
Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: Sham Control
Other: Sham Control
Sham control acupuncture
Experimental: Acupuncture
Other: Acupuncture
Battlefield acupuncture protocol

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Response
Time Frame: Postoperative days 1 and 6
Families will be contacted via telephone by a member of the study team other than Dr. Ochi on postoperative days 1 and 6. During these follow-up phone calls a member of the study team will review the daily diary with the parent and also inquire about oral intake, activity level, complications and any additional medical encounters.
Postoperative days 1 and 6

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Children's ENT of San Diego, Inc.

Collaborators

Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego

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

July 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 6, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 7, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

July 8, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 18, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 17, 2012

Last Verified

May 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2322

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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