ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT04134702AcuK-ScopeUpdated Jun 9, 2026

Acupuncture for Pain Control After Ambulatory Knee Arthroscopy

An interventional study of Acupuncture in Postoperative Pain; Knee Arthroscopy; Acupuncture, sponsored by University Medicine Greifswald. Recruiting at 1 site in Germany. Open to participants aged 19 Years to 55 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-09.

Sponsored by University Medicine Greifswald · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 8 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Feb 2019, registered Oct 2019).
  • Started Feb 2019; still recruiting 7 years 9 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
19 Years to 55 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Aim of the study: To investigate whether acupuncture with indwelling fixed needles reduces pain and analgesic requirement and foster mobilization in patients after arthroscopic knee surgery (AKS) Design: Prospective pilot investigation with non-randomized arm Number of patients: N = 60 (30 patients with acupuncture additional to standard pain treatment (SPT) vs. 30 patients with SPT only Inclusion criteria: Adult patients scheduled to elective AKS in general anaesthesia with \< 80 min. duration Without previous opioid and psychotropic medication Given informed consentOutcome measures: Postoperative analgesic requirement; Pain intensity; Incidence of side effects; Physiological parameters; Mobilization score

02

Conditions studied

  • Postoperative Pain; Knee Arthroscopy; Acupuncture

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03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,640 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,230 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 60 is below the median of 75 across 4,821 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

University Medicine Greifswald is the lead sponsor of 152 studies on the registry; 22 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
19 Years to 55 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patients with an physical status of I to II scheduled for elective ambulatory arthroscopic knee surgery under standardized general anesthesia
  2. Surgery time does not exceed 80 minutes
  3. Patients without previous opioid and psychotropic medication
  4. Patients aged between 19 and 55 years, able to fill in the study questionnaire (Appendix F)
  5. Patients who have given written

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Current psychiatric disease
  2. Local skin infection at the sites of acupuncture
  3. Aged \< 19 or > 55 years
  4. Failure to follow the standardized schema of general anaesthesia
  5. Surgery time more than 80 minutes
  6. Intraoperative complications (bleeding, required blood transfusion more than 6 units of packed cells, cardiovascular instability, required catecholamines)
  7. Patients who consumed opioid medication at least 6 months before surgery
  8. Patients who are unable to understand the consent form or to fill in the study questionnaire.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

ASA physical status

The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Acupuncture

    30 patients will receive acupuncture additionally to standard pharmacological therapy of postoperative pain

    Other: Acupuncture

  • No intervention
    No intervention

    30 patients will receive just standard pharmacological therapy of postoperative pain

Interventions

  • OtherAcupuncture

    Acupuncture and ear acupuncture using indwelling fixed needles, that will remained in situ several days after surgery until the patients will experience pain

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Analgesic requirement

    Total dose of ibuprofen taken by the patient during 10 days after arthroscopic knee surgery

    Time frame: 10 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. Pain intensity: verbal rating scale

    Pain intensity measured using verbal rating scale from 0=no pain to 10=maximal pain

    Time frame: 10 days after surgery

  2. Side affects

    Incidence of analgesic induced side effects

    Time frame: 10 days after surgery

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — On request from study chair after publication of results

Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form, Clinical study report

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 9, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04134702
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 22, 2019
Start date
Feb 1, 2019
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Jun 9, 2026

Study contacts

Taras Usichenko, MD, PhD
Contact
taras@uni-greifswald.de
00490383486 ext. 5893
Joern Lange, MD, PhD
Contact
jnlange@uni-greifswald.de
00490383486 ext. 22579
Taras Usichenko, MD, PhD
study chair · Dept. of Anesthesiology

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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