Acupuncture research in regards to PONV has been fairly well established, however, studies about perioperative pain control and acupuncture are a little more murky. In 2008, a meta analysis looked at randomized controlled studies and found that while acupuncture was shown to decrease pain, there were limitations including credible placebo or sham intervention, and thus, blinding. The main purpose of this feasibility trial is to determine whether or not adequate blinding is possible in the intraoperative setting with the patient sedated.
According to the most recent survey conducted by the national center for complementary and integrative health (a branch of the National Institutes of Health) in 2007, the use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) has increased significantly from 2002 (the previous survey). In the 2007 survey, in the United States alone, 38% percent of adults and 12% of children use some form of CAM. It has been 10 years since that survey report, there is little doubt that these numbers have only increased. According to the National Center for Health Statistics on the expenditures on CAM in 2012 - for just adults utilizing specialists, such as acupuncturists, $14.1 Billion was spent. With this increasing demand of such treatment modalities by patients, conventional practitioners will need to be, at the very least, well versed enough to recommend for or against these modalities. In addition, the current opioid epidemic is on the forefront of the public mind. Recently declared a public health emergency by the President, alternative means of postoperative pain control is a necessity and integrative medicine is a low cost, safe, and effective adjuvant/alternative
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
40
Acupuncture is a nonpharmacologic pain management modality that has been shown to provide superior analgesia for acute pain. This will be combined with our facility's standard of care anesthesia and pain management plan.
Hospital for Special Surgery
New York, New York, United States
Bang Blinding Index (BI)
Patients' ability to determine whether or not they received acupuncture. The success of patient blinding in each group will be quantified using Bang Blinding Index (BI) which ranges from min = -1 to max = 1. Scores closest to 0 indicate a less likelihood that patients were able to guess which group they were randomized into. A score of 1 or -1 means that patients were able to guess which group they were in. This value is obtained by asking patients which group they believe they were randomly assigned to.
Time frame: postoperative day 1
Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) Pain at Rest Scores
Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) pain at rest on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain ever imaginable). A lower score is a better outcome.
Time frame: postoperative day 1
Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) Pain With Movement Scores
Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) pain with movement on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). A lower score is a better outcome.
Time frame: postoperative day 1
Opioid Consumption
Measured in cumulative oral morphine equivalent. Each patient measured individually and then all patients' measurement was averaged.
Time frame: day of surgery through postoperative day 1
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