Efficacy and Safety of Electroacupuncture for ICU Sepsis Patients

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Sepsis

• Registration Number: NCT06666946
• Lead Sponsor: Shusheng Li

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with standard Intensive Care Unit (ICU) therapy on organ dysfunction and other clinical outcomes in sepsis patients. Additionally, this study will conduct subgroup analyses to investigate the influence of septic shock and immunomodulators on the treatment effects and their correlation with electroacupuncture efficacy.

Detailed Description

The proposed single-center, participant-blind, two arms, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with standard Intensive Care Unit (ICU) therapy on organ dysfunction and other clinical outcomes in sepsis patients. We planned to conduct this single-center trial in Tongji Hospital, affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). Patients, who are initially diagnosed with sepsis, will be assessed for eligibility within 24 hours of their ICU admission. Then, eligible participants will be informed and randomly assigned to one of the two groups: the EA group or the sham EA group, in a 1:1 ratio using block randomization. Patients will receive the first EA/sham EA therapy within 24 hours after randomization. The treatment will be administered once daily for 6 days continuously, and followed by 28 days after randomization. The primary outcome will be the SOFA score at Day 7 after randomization. Secondary outcomes include mortality, ICU-free days, hospital-free days, organ-support-free days at Day 28. SOFA score components and related serological results will also be included. Data collection will be conducted by an electronic data management system. Data analyses will be performed on a full analysis set and a per protocol set.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2024-10
• Study First Submitted: 2024-10-25
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-10-28
• Study First Posted: 2024-10-31
• Study Start: 2025-02-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-15
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-18
• Primary Completion: 2026-08-01
• Study Completion: 2026-08-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 308

Inclusion Criteria

• 1. Age ≥ 18 years old, and gender is not limited.
• 2. Meets the diagnostic criteria of Sepsis (Sepsis-3): In patients with infection or suspected infection, Sepsis is diagnosed when the Sequential (Sepsis related) Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score increased by ≥2 points from baseline.
• 3. Patients or their legal representatives understand and voluntarily sign the informed consent for this study.

Exclusion Criteria

• 1. Patients with lower extremity denervation.
• 2. Patients with lower extremity amputation or congenital disability with lower limb hypoplasia.
• 3. Patients with severe acute trauma such as active bleeding or unfixed fractures in the lower extremities.
• 4. Patients with skin damage, infection, bleeding, or hematoma near the lower extremity acupuncture site.
• 5. Patients with implantable medical devices, such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) or deep brain stimulation (DBS).
• 6. Patients who are pregnant, breast feeding during the study.
• 7. Patients whose expected duration of ICU length of stay is less than 48 hours.
• 8. Patients whose legal representatives refuse routine active treatment and sign palliative treatment consent.
• 9. Patients who are currently participating in another randomized clinical trial.
• 10. Patients or their legal representatives refused to participate in the study or were unable to sign informed consent.
• 11. Immunosuppressive status, including but not limited to: congenital immunosuppressive patients, AIDS patients, organ transplant patients, long-term use of immunosuppressive patients, patients receiving tumor radiotherapy or chemotherapy within 1 month;
• 12. Patients with an anticipated survival prognosis of no more than 7 days due to advanced disease.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in the SOFA score between baseline and 7 days after randomization	At baseline (before randomization), and every day after the first treatment to day 7 after randomization	The SOFA (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment) score was based on six different scores, one for each of the respiratory, cardiovascular, hepatic, coagulation, renal and neurological systems each scored from 0 to 4 with an increasing score reflecting worsening organ dysfunction.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
All-cause mortality at day 28	At day 28 after randomization	It refers to the total number of patients who die from any cause within 28 days of being admitted to the hospital. It will be described as a ratio.
All-cause ICU mortality at day 28	At day 28 after randomization	It refers to the total number of patients who die in the ICU from any cause within 28 days of being admitted to the hospital. It will be described as a ratio.
ICU-free days to day 28	At day 28 after randomization	The number of days from the patient's discharge from the ICU to the 28th day after randomization is calculated. If the patient re-enters the ICU, the total number of days without ICU care is subtracted from the number of days spent in the ICU.
Hospital-free days to day 28	At day 28 after randomization	The number of days from the patient's discharge to the 28th day after randomization is calculated. If the patient re-enters the hospital, the total number of days without hospital care is subtracted from the number of days spent in the hospital.
Ventilator-free time to day 28	At day 28 after randomization	This refers to the period from randomization to the 28th day, during which the patient must be alive and have at least 48 hours off the ventilator. Subtract the time that the ventilator was required again from the total time. If the patient dies in the hospital after being off the ventilator, the value is set to 0.
SOFA score at Day 8 and 9 after randomization	At day 8 and 9 after randomization	After-effect assessed by SOFA score, which is same as the description of the primary outcome.
SOFA score of each system	At baseline (before randomization), and every day after the first treatment to day 9 after randomization	Independent scores for each system that makes up the SOFA score
Vasopressor-free days to day 28	At day 28 after randomization	From randomization to the 28th day, this refers to the time the patient is alive and has not received vasopressor medications for at least 4 hours. If the patient dies in the hospital after discontinuing the medication, the value is set to 0.
CRRT-free days to day 28	At day 28 after randomization	The time from randomization to the 28th day during which the patient did not use continuous renal replacement therapy(CRRT).
SOFA score components	At baseline (before randomization), and every day after the first treatment to day 9 after randomization	ie, PaO2 to FiO2 ratio, ventilator use, platelet counts, total bilirubin, MAP, vasopressor use, creatinine level, urine volume
Liquid equilibrium parameter	At baseline (before randomization), and every day after the first treatment to day 6 after randomization	Daily fluid intake, output and fluid balance of ICU patients will be recorded continuously.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Department of Critical Care Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology; 🇨🇳 Wuhan, Hubei, China