Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for patients with chronic urticaria: study protocol of a randomized, sham-controlled pilot trial

Shi Y, Zheng H, Zhou S, Zheng Q, Zhang L, Xiao X, Cao W, Liu Y, Li Y · Trials · 2019 June 04

Objective

Chronic urticaria (CU) is a refractory skin disease with long duration and a high recurrence rate. Acupuncture has been widely used for the treatment of CU in clinical practice in China. However, until now, there has been no appropriately designed randomized controlled trial (RCT) to provide explicit evidence about the effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of CU worldwide. Therefore, we plan to conduct a pilot study to explore its effectiveness and safety and determine the feasibility of studying acupuncture in a future, full-scale, RCT of CU.

Conclusions

The pilot study mainly aims to investigate trial feasibility, and confirm basic information about its effects and safety. Results of this trial will help clarify whether the acupuncture treatment is beneficial for symptom improvement in patients with CU. The finding of this study will provide preliminary evidence on the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for CU.

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