title: Randomized controlled trial of a special acupuncture technique for pain after thoracotomy.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Integrative Medicine Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021, USA. dengg@mskcc.org
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rusch
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vickers
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ginex
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Downey
authors.forename: Manjit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bains
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rizk
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.forename: Barrie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cassiletha
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid