Trial Outcomes & Findings for Acupuncture With Manual and Electrical Stimulation to Reduce Labour Pain (NCT NCT01197950)

NCT ID: NCT01197950

Last Updated: 2022-09-21

Results Overview

Frequecy of epidural analgesia

Recruitment status

COMPLETED

Study phase

NA

Target enrollment

303 participants

Primary outcome timeframe

From start of treatment until birth

Results posted on

2022-09-21

Participant Flow

Participant milestones

Participant milestones
Measure
Manual Acupuncture
Manual stimulation Manual Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour.
Electro Acupuncture
Electrical and manual stimulation Electro Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour. Eight needles in the painful area (local points) will be connected to an electro-stimulator and stimulated with high frequency (80 Hz) square wave pulses (0.18-ms duration) with alternating polarity. The woman will adjust the intensity of the electrical stimulation to be just under pain threshold.
Standard Care
Standard Care No acupucture
Overall Study
STARTED
99
103
101
Overall Study
COMPLETED
83
87
83
Overall Study
NOT COMPLETED
16
16
18

Reasons for withdrawal

Reasons for withdrawal
Measure
Manual Acupuncture
Manual stimulation Manual Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour.
Electro Acupuncture
Electrical and manual stimulation Electro Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour. Eight needles in the painful area (local points) will be connected to an electro-stimulator and stimulated with high frequency (80 Hz) square wave pulses (0.18-ms duration) with alternating polarity. The woman will adjust the intensity of the electrical stimulation to be just under pain threshold.
Standard Care
Standard Care No acupucture
Overall Study
Women's request (31), high workload (8), returned home (4), partus in one hour (1), other (6)
16
16
18

Baseline Characteristics

Acupuncture With Manual and Electrical Stimulation to Reduce Labour Pain

Baseline characteristics by cohort

Baseline characteristics by cohort
Measure
Manual Acupuncture
n=99 Participants
Manual stimulation Manual Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour.
Electro Acupuncture
n=103 Participants
Electrical and manual stimulation Electro Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour. Eight needles in the painful area (local points) will be connected to an electro-stimulator and stimulated with high frequency (80 Hz) square wave pulses (0.18-ms duration) with alternating polarity. The woman will adjust the intensity of the electrical stimulation to be just under pain threshold.
Standard Care
n=101 Participants
No acupunture
Total
n=303 Participants
Total of all reporting groups
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=4 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
99 Participants
n=5 Participants
103 Participants
n=7 Participants
101 Participants
n=5 Participants
303 Participants
n=4 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=4 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
99 Participants
n=5 Participants
103 Participants
n=7 Participants
101 Participants
n=5 Participants
303 Participants
n=4 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=4 Participants
Region of Enrollment
Sweden
99 participants
n=5 Participants
103 participants
n=7 Participants
101 participants
n=5 Participants
303 participants
n=4 Participants

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: From start of treatment until birth

Frequecy of epidural analgesia

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure
Manual Acupuncture
n=99 Participants
Manual stimulation Manual Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour.
Electro Acupuncture
n=103 Participants
Electrical and manual stimulation Electro Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour. Eight needles in the painful area (local points) will be connected to an electro-stimulator and stimulated with high frequency (80 Hz) square wave pulses (0.18-ms duration) with alternating polarity. The woman will adjust the intensity of the electrical stimulation to be just under pain threshold.
Standard Care
n=101 Participants
Standard care
Use of Epidural Analgesia
99 participants
103 participants
101 participants

Adverse Events

Manual Acupuncture

Serious events: 0 serious events
Other events: 0 other events
Deaths: 99 deaths

Electro Acupuncture

Serious events: 0 serious events
Other events: 0 other events
Deaths: 103 deaths

Standard Care

Serious events: 0 serious events
Other events: 0 other events
Deaths: 101 deaths

Serious adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Other adverse events

Other adverse events
Measure
Manual Acupuncture
n=99 participants at risk
Manual stimulation Manual Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour.
Electro Acupuncture
n=103 participants at risk
Electrical and manual stimulation Electro Acupuncture: The women will receive treatment on bilateral points, both distal points and local points and the needles will be manually stimulated to reach De Qi every ten minutes during one hour. Eight needles in the painful area (local points) will be connected to an electro-stimulator and stimulated with high frequency (80 Hz) square wave pulses (0.18-ms duration) with alternating polarity. The woman will adjust the intensity of the electrical stimulation to be just under pain threshold.
Standard Care
n=101 participants at risk
Standard care - no acupuncture treatment at all
Infections and infestations
Only minor adverse events were expected
0.00%
0/99 • Three hours
We did not expected any adverse event except for infections in the injection area or after the acupuncture needles were removed.
0.00%
0/103 • Three hours
We did not expected any adverse event except for infections in the injection area or after the acupuncture needles were removed.
0.00%
0/101 • Three hours
We did not expected any adverse event except for infections in the injection area or after the acupuncture needles were removed.

Additional Information

Professor Lena Mårtensson

Universty of Skovde

Phone: +46500448000

Results disclosure agreements

  • Principal investigator is a sponsor employee
  • Publication restrictions are in place