Analgesic Effect of Acupuncture for Patients With Rib Fractures
Condition: Rib Fractures; Acute Pain; Analgesia
MeSH terms: Acute Pain; Fractures, Bone; Rib Fractures
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Traumatic rib fractures are common, resulting from significant forces impacting on the chest,
      and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Acute pain management in
      inpatients with traumatic rib fractures has been highly emphasized by practitioners.
      Inappropriate analgesia may cause respiratory complications, including pneumonia,
      atelectasis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and prolonged hospital stay. These may be
      prevented or reduced by good analgesic therapy. This study is aimed to investigate the
      analgesic effect of acupuncture on traumatic rib fractures.
    

Detailed description: 
      This open-label, randomized controlled trial will involve 150 patients who have traumatic rib
      fractures. Subjects are randomly assigned to acupuncture group, laser acupuncture group or
      sham laser acupuncture group with a 1:1:1 ratio. The intervention will be performed on the
      consecutive three day after allocation. Bilateral LI4 (Hegu), SJ6 (Zhigou), ST36 (Zusanli)
      and GB34 (Yanglingquan) are used for each group. The traditional acupuncture group will be
      performed by inserting needles to a depth of 15-35 mm and last for 15 min. The laser
      acupuncture will be performed with the gallium aluminum arsenide LaserPen, which delivered
      0.375 J of energy at each of the acupoints. Subjects in the control group underwent sham
      laser acupuncture treatment without any laser output. The acupuncture points, application
      duration, and total number of treatments were similar to those in the laser acupuncture
      group.
    

Intervention name(s): Traditional acupuncture (TA); Laser acupuncture (LA); Sham laser acupuncture (SLA)
Intervention type(s): Procedure; Procedure; Procedure
Intervention description(s): Procedure: real acupuncture.
Eight disposable, single use, sterilized, stainless steel needles are inserted at each session, and the bilateral LI4 (Hegu), SJ6 (Zhigou), ST36 (Zusanli) and GB34 (Yanglingquan) are used for acupuncture treatment. The acupuncture needles are to be inserted to a depth of 15-35 mm. All needles are rotated manually at least once at each session to elicit needle sensation (De qi). The needle retention time is 15 min.; Procedure: laser acupuncture.
Participants allocated to the LA group receive laser acupuncture treatment at the same acupoints used in acupuncture group. The laser acupuncture therapy will be performed with the gallium aluminum arsenide LaserPen (maximal power, 150 mW; wavelength, 810 nm; area of probe, 0.03 cm2; power density, 5 W/cm2; pulsed wave; and Bahr frequencies [B1: 599.5 Hz, B2: 1199 Hz, B3: 2398 Hz, B4: 4776 Hz, B5: 9552 Hz, B6: 19,104 Hz, and B7: 38,208 Hz]; RJ-Laser, Reimers & Janssen GmbH, Waldkirch, Germany). The laser will be applied to each point for 5 seconds, which delivered 0.375 J of energy at each of the acupoints: LI4 (Hegu, B3), SJ6 (Zhigou, B3), ST36 (Zusanli, B2) and GB34 (Yanglingquan, B2).; Procedure: sham laser acupuncture.
Subjects in the control group receive sham laser acupuncture treatment without any laser output. The acupuncture points, application duration, and total number of treatments were similar to those in the LA group.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Acupuncture group
Laser acupuncture group
Sham laser acupuncture group
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Traumatic rib fractures; Acupuncture; Analgesia