Acupuncture in the emergency department (ACUITY): Results from a BraveNet multi-center feasibility randomized controlled trial
Abstract
Background Pain plays a significant role in emergency department (ED) visits, however safe and effective nonpharmacologic options are needed. Prior studies of acupuncture in the ED reported pain reduction with minimal side effects, but most were small and single site. Methods We conducted ACUITY, a prospectively designed multi-center feasibility RCT. Our goal was to recruit 165 adults with acute non-emergent pain ≥4 on a 0–10-point scale at three EDs affiliated with BraveNet Practice Based Research Network. At baseline and 45–60 min later (post), participants self-assessed their pain and anxiety using a 0–10 rating scale. The primary feasibility outcome was recruitment of participants, whereas secondary outcomes were retention, and participant/provider acceptability. Results From May 3, 2021, to September 24, 2022, 632 eligible individuals were approached and 165 enrolled (165/632: 26.1 %), meeting our recruitment goal. Notably, 42.4 % of enrollees were Black/African American, 42.4 % were White/Caucasian, and 13.9 % were Hispanic/Latino. Participants were randomized to Acupuncture (n = 83) or Usual care (n = 82), of which 151 (91.5 %) and 128 (77.6 %) provided pain and anxiety scores at post-treatment and 1-week respectively. Acupuncture was rated acceptable to participants and providers. Mean pain ratings (pre-to-post) were 7.4 (2.2) to 4.8 (2.8) for acupuncture and 7.1 (2.3) to 6.4 (2.5) for usual care. Mean anxiety ratings (pre-to-post) were 4.5 (3.4) to 2.5 (2.6) for…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 165 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- The Matrisome: In Silico Definition and In Vivo Characterization by Proteomics of Normal and Tumor Extracellular Matrices
- The Escherichia coli MG1655 in silico metabolic genotype: Its definition, characteristics, and capabilities
- In silico pharmacology for drug discovery: methods for virtual ligand screening and profiling
- In silico prediction of splice-altering single nucleotide variants in the human genome
- In silico clinical trials: how computer simulation will transform the biomedical industry
- In silico optimization of a guava antimicrobial peptide enables combinatorial exploration for peptide design
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.