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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

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

Who can participate

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

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patients with an American Society of Anesthesiologists 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 informed consent

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.
04

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

05

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

06

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • University Medicine of Greifswald
    Greifswald, Vorpommern 17475, Germany
    Recruiting
07

References and documents

Individual participant data

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

Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf, Csr

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04134702
Lead sponsor
University Medicine Greifswald
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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