Migraine without aura is a common kind of nervous system diseases that can easily cause recurrent headache, leading to severe impacts on quality of life and health care costs. Current therapeutic options for migraine without aura mainly include flunarizine hydrochloride that can relieve vasospasm. Nevertheless, the efficacy of flunarizine hydrochloride is always limited by inevitable side effects, which result in poor compliance of patients. Moreover, for some most suffering patients, the control of pain is often unsatisfactory despite of the administration of complex treatment combinations. As a non-pharmaceutical therapy, acupuncture is widely used for a wide range of pain conditions. Thus, it might be an alternative treatment for migraine without aura. The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to investigate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy in patients with migraine without aura from the perspective of Regulating Ying and Wei.
This randomized controlled trial will enroll 96 migraine patients without aura from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. All patients will be randomly assigned to either the acupuncture combined with placebo group or sham acupuncture combined with medication group through a randomization system. Primary outcome will be pain intensity assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) scale. Secondary outcomes will include migraine-specific quality of life (MSQOL) scale and headache needs assessment survey (HANA) questionnaire scale.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
96
This group will include 48 patients. Patients in this group will receive acupuncture combined with placebo. Participants are in the supine position. The bilateral Tianrong (SI 17) acupoints are needled for 1-1.5 inch with the direction tilted back 45±5 degrees. The bilateral Fengchi (GB 20) acupoints are needled for 0.5-1 inch with the direction tilted to nose. The bilateral Neiguan (PC 6) acupoints are also needled for 0.5-1 inch with the straight direction. In addition, 4-6 additional acupoints can be identified according to different syndrome types of patients. The needles are kept for 30 min, the treatment frequency is 3 times per week, and the treatment duration lasts 8 weeks. Meanwhile, the dosage of placebo is 1 capsule twice a day and the treatment duration also lasts 8 weeks.
This group will include 48 patients. Participants in this group will receive sham acupuncture plus flunarizine hydrochloride. Participants are in the supine position and sham acupuncture is conducted. The bilateral Tianrong (SI 17) acupoints, Fengchi (GB 20) acupoints and Neiguan (PC 6) acupoints are selected, and 4-6 additional acupoints can be identified according to the syndrome type of the participants. The needles are kept for 30 min, the treatment frequency is 3 times per week, and the treatment duration lasts 8 weeks. Moreover, the dosage of flunarizine hydrochloride is 5mg twice a day and the treatment duration also lasts 8 weeks.
The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
RECRUITINGChange in pain intensity
Change in Pain intensity will be measured by visual analog scale (VAS)，he VAS divides the pain from 0 to 10 into 11 grades. 0: No pain; 10: the worst pain; ≤3: mild pain; 4-6: moderate pain which is tolerable; 7-10: severe pain which is unbearable.
Time frame: Baseline，4 weeks after treatment，8 weeks after treatment，4 weeks after follow-up visiting，12 weeks after follow-up visiting，and 24 weeks after follow-up visiting
Change in number of migraine attacks per 4 weeks
Change in Number of migraine attacks is assessed by patients' pain diary
Time frame: Baseline，4 weeks after treatment，8 weeks after treatment，4 weeks after follow-up visiting，12 weeks after follow-up visiting，and 24 weeks after follow-up visiting
Migraine-specific Quality of life
Quality of life will be measure by migraine-specific quality of life (MSQOL) scale.This questionnaire consists of 25 items, with 4 answers for each question. The overall format and scores are as follows: 1.Very much; 2. Many; 3. Some; 4. Not at all. The overall scale ranges from 25 to 100, with higher scores indicating the better quality of life.
Time frame: Baseline，4 weeks after treatment，8 weeks after treatment，4 weeks after follow-up visiting，12 weeks after follow-up visiting，and 24 weeks after follow-up visiting
Headache Needs Assessment Survey (HANA) Questionnaire Scale
Evaluate the frequency and severity of the migraine effect.The overall score ranges from 14 to 70, with higher scores indicating the greater impact of migraine on life.
Time frame: Baseline，4 weeks after treatment，8 weeks after treatment，4 weeks after follow-up visiting，12 weeks after follow-up visiting，and 24 weeks after follow-up visiting
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