The Efficacy of Acupuncture and Fu's Subcutaneous Needling (FSN ) in Treating Chronic Tension-type Headache by fMRI

NCT ID: NCT03171337

Last Updated: 2017-06-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 45 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-06-10
• Study Completion Date: 2017-12-31

Brief Summary

Epidemiological studies show a one-year prevalence of 30%-60% for episodic tension-type headache (TTH) and 2%-3% for chronic TTH (CTTH). Many TTH patients seek acupuncture treatment worldwide, and CTTH is one of the most commonly treated. FSN has been used to treat CTTH recently; the curative effect of it was especially good for CTTH accompanying pericranial tenderness. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of acupuncture and FSN for CTTH remains controversial. Several research results showed that symptoms of TTH improve after acupuncture treatment, but these improvements were more subjective than objective measures. So, the aim of this study is to determine the cerebral function efficacy of acupuncture and FSN in the treatment of CTTH, using Headache impact test questionnaire (HIT-6), VAS to evaluate the subjective symptom and fMRI to detect the objective cerebral function changes.

Intervention: device: acupuncture; Fu's subcutaneous; placebo sham acupuncture

Detailed Description

Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most prevalent type of primary headache. Unlike migraine, however, there have been no significant treatment advances for chronic TTH in the past few decades, probably due to the limited understanding of its pathophysiology compared with that of migraine. The objective of the present study is to investigate the cerebral function imaging changes in patients with chronic tension headache trough comparing that in healthy people, focus on the regional homogeneity (ReHo) of ROIs of brain. In addition, the effect of acupuncture and Fu's subcutaneous needing (FSN) on the cerebral function will also be studied. This is a clinical trial study, randomized, in parallel, single-blinded assessor, and with a sham placebo control.

The study will be carried out in the （Traditional therapy center, Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine）. Patients will be collected according to the inclusion criteria (conform to diagnose criterion for headache ICHD-3), with age between 18 and 45 years old. Healthy people will be collected too according to the inclusion criteria for healthy people, with age matching with the patients. The participants will respond to questionnaires at the beginning and end of the first, fifth and last therapeutic intervention and their fMRI of brain will be acquired. The therapeutic intervention will include: 8 acupuncture sessions, 8 FSN sessions and 8 placebo sham acupuncture sessions (twice per week for 4 weeks). The measurements taken will be: impact of headache on daily life, severity of headache, emotional problem of headache, the cerebral function of ROIs (by means of fMRI) of headache and so on.

Through these interventions it is hoped that patients will present an improvement in their pain presentation, quality of life and emotional problem, as well as cerebral function imaging in certain region of brain. Evidence for these hypotheses will provide the cerebral function effect mechanism of acupuncture and FSN to CTTH, and some evidence in the research will perhaps support that acupuncture and FSN are two type minimally-invasive treatment methods, with few side-effects and low cost.

Conditions

Chronic Tension-Type Headache

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: TRIPLE

Study Groups

Acupuncture

Acupuncture at acupoints for CTTH according to TCM theory, twice 1 week for 4 weeks，fMRI will be used to detect the cerebral function changes

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Acupuncture

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Acupuncture at acupoints for CTTH according to TCM theory using stainless filiform needle.

Fu's subcutaneous needling (FSN)

FSN at the points related with CTTH, twice 1 week for 4 weeks, fMRI will be used to detect the cerebral function changes.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Fu's Subcutaneous Needling (FSN)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Fu's subcutaneous needling at specific points for CTTH using soft casing needle.

Sham acupuncture

Streitberger placebo needles at nonacupoint for CTTH, twice 1 week for 4 weeks,fMRI will be used to detect the cerebral function changes.

Group Type: SHAM_COMPARATOR

Sham acupuncture

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Sham acupuncture at non-acupoints using Steinberger placebo needles

Interventions

Acupuncture

Acupuncture at acupoints for CTTH according to TCM theory using stainless filiform needle.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Fu's Subcutaneous Needling (FSN)

Fu's subcutaneous needling at specific points for CTTH using soft casing needle.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Sham acupuncture

Sham acupuncture at non-acupoints using Steinberger placebo needles

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Other Intervention Names

Filiform needle; Fu's Acupuncture; Floating Needling; Fu Needling; Placebo Acupuncture

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Conforms to clinical diagnostic criteria of CTTH associated with pericranial tenderness（ICHD-3 beta version）, Han nationality.

2. Aged between 18 and 45 years old men or women with right-handed.

3. No history of cognitive dysfunction.

4. Seeking medical advice for TTH for the first time.

5. Providing informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Taking analgesics or other drugs may affect the resting state fMRI scans of brain within two weeks.

2. Have hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, depression and other systemic diseases, other chronic pain etc. Psychiatric or neurologic disorder that unable patient to consent and follow study protocol.

3. Combined with other type headache.

4. Intracranial lesions are found in MRI or CT scans.

5. Headache breaks out within 24h after fMRI scan.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 50 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Jiang Xumei

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Jiang Xumei

Postdoctor;Lecturer

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Zhouyi Guo, Pro

Role: STUDY_CHAIR

SATCM Third Grade Laboratory of Chinese Medicine and Photonics Technology, College of Biophotonics and fMRI chamber, research resources center, South China Normal University.

Jian Sun, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Traditional therapy center, Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Central Contacts

Xuemei Jiang, PhD

Role: CONTACT

jxmacu01@126.com

（86）13751847873

Zhouyi Guo, Pro

Role: CONTACT

ann@scnu.edu.cn

（86）13503004488

Other Identifiers

SouthSNU

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id