Electro-acupuncture to Treat Disorder of Consciousness

ConditionsDisorder of Consciousness Electroacupuncture

Trial statusRecruiting

Trial phaseNot applicable

Trial typeInterventional

Biological sexAll

Age18+

SponsorThe Second Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

About this trial

With the rapid development of life support technology, more and more people can survive severe brain injury. Some survivors regain consciousness after a period of coma, however, many patients develop prolonged disorders of consciousness (DOC), which poses a therapeutic challenge for clinicians and a heavy burden for their families. The investigators design an Electro-acupuncture to treat disorder of consciousness (AcuDoc) trial with the aim of validating the clinical effect of electroacupuncture in treating DOC and exploring its therapeutic mechanisms by integrating EEG, neuroimaging, evoked potential tests, and behavioral assessments.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Age ≥ 18 years;

With cerebral damage due to TBI；

Diagnosed with UWS or MCS based on at least two CRS-R assessments;

From 4 to 16 weeks from the onset of brain injury;

Disqualifiers

With a history of neurological or psychiatric disorder prior to the brain injury;

With uncontrolled seizures or status epilepticus;

Unstable vital signs and requiring the use of vasoactive agents;

With the use of general anesthetics or central acting sedative;

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

Electroacupuncture
Other intervention
Electro-acupuncture at Shuigou and Yintang.
Sham electroacupuncture
Other intervention
Sham-EA at sham-Shuigou and sham-Yintang.

Treatment groups

50 Participants

are divided into 2 treatment groups

Group A: Electro-acupuncture groupExperimental treatment 1 intervention

Group B: Sham electro-acupuncture groupSham comparator 1 intervention

Trial outcomes