Randomized controlled trial of a special acupuncture technique for pain after thoracotomy.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine whether an acupuncture technique specially developed for a surgical oncology population (intervention) reduces pain or analgesic use after thoracotomy compared with a sham acupuncture technique (control).


METHODS
One hundred sixty-two patients with cancer undergoing thoracotomy were randomized to group A (preoperative implantation of small intradermal needles that were retained for 4 weeks) or group B (preoperative placement of sham needles at the same schedule). The numeric rating scale of pain and total opioid use was evaluated during the in-patient stay, and the Brief Pain Inventory and Medication Quantification Scale were evaluated after discharge up to 3 months after the operation.


RESULTS
The principal analysis, a comparison of Brief Pain Inventory pain intensity scores at the 30-day follow-up, showed no significant difference between the intervention and control groups. Pain scores were marginally higher in the intervention group (0.05; 95% confidence interval, 0.74 to -0.64; P = .9). There were also no statistically significant differences between groups for secondary end points, including chronic pain assessments at 60 and 90 days, in-patient pain, and medication use in the hospital and after discharge.


CONCLUSIONS
A special acupuncture technique, as provided in this study, did not reduce pain or use of pain medication after thoracotomy more than a sham technique.
Deng
Gary
G
Integrative Medicine Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021, USA. dengg@mskcc.org
Rusch
Valerie
V
Vickers
Andrew
A
Malhotra
Vivek
V
Ginex
Pamela
P
Downey
Robert
R
Bains
Manjit
M
Park
Bernard
B
Rizk
Nabil
N
Flores
Raja
R
Yeung
Simon
S
Cassiletha
Barrie
B
D015667:Acupuncture Analgesia / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013908:Thoracotomy
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid