Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39083341›Full record

ArticleJMIR research protocols2024

Efficacy and Mechanism of Acupoint Catgut Embedding in the Treatment of Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria: Protocol for a Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Jianing Bi, Li Liu, Zhu Fan, Shengyuan Qu, Jiao Yang, Chenchen Xu, Bingnan Cui

Abstract readClinical Trial Protocol
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR research protocols, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Acupuncture Enhances Quality of Life and Disease Control in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria Patients on Omalizumab: A Study of 61 Cases.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jianing Bi *Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.ORCID 0009-0007-7842-3977
Li Liu *Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID 0009-0004-5757-1792
Zhu Fan *Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-7535-2823
Shengyuan QuGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID 0009-0004-8022-7885
Jiao YangGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-3853-277X
Chenchen XuGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-1894-2368
Bingnan CuiGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-8790-1383

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease that manifests as itching and wheals, seriously affecting quality of life. Clinical observations and previous research trials have shown that acupuncture is safe and effective for the treatment of CSU. However, there are problems, such as a short duration of action and frequent treatment. Compared with traditional acupuncture, acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) has the advantages of a longer effect and higher compliance. Clinical trials are needed to prove its efficacy and mechanism of action.

objectiveThis trial aims to provide definitive evidence for the treatment of CSU with ACE and explore the mechanism of ACE.

methodsThis is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. In this trial, 108 participants aged 18-60 years with a diagnosis of CSU and no history of ACE will be randomly assigned to 2 groups (1:1 ratio) using the Statistical Analysis System: treatment (ACE) and control (sham ACE). The participants and efficacy evaluators will be blinded to the grouping. Both the ACE and sham ACE groups will undergo acupuncture, but the sham ACE group will not receive catgut sutures. Treatment will be performed twice weekly for 8 weeks, with a 1-week run-in period and a 16-week follow-up period. Twenty patients will be randomly selected to undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after the treatment period. The primary outcome will be the urticaria activity score over 7 days (UAS7). We will use R (version 4.0.1; R Project for Statistical Computing) to perform ANOVA and independent samples t tests to compare the differences within and between groups before and after treatment by judging the rejection range based on a significance level of .05.

resultsThe study protocol has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Guang'anmen Hospital on September 7, 2022, and has been registered on November 30, 2022. Recruitment began on March 1, 2023. A total of 4-6 participants are expected to be recruited each month. The recruitment is planned to be completed on March 1, 2025, and we expect to publish our results by the winter of 2025. As of November 1, 2023, we have enrolled 25 participants with CSU.

conclusionsThis randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial aims to provide definitive evidence for the treatment of CSU with ACE and explore the mechanism of ACE. We hypothesize that wheals and itching will show greater improvement in participants receiving active therapy than in those receiving sham treatment. The limitations of this study include its single-center trial design, small sample size, and short treatment duration, which may have certain impacts on the research results.

trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2200066274; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojEN.html?proj=179056. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/54376.

Indexed as

Acupuncture PointsAcupuncture TherapyCatgutChronic UrticariaAdolescentAdultDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeYoung Adultacupoint catgut embeddingchronic spontaneous urticariafunctional magnetic resonance imagingmechanism of actionrandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID39083341
PMCPMC11325124

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.