This study is not yet accepting patients

Self-administered Acupressure in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease

a study on Sickle Cell Anemia Anemia Pain

Summary

Eligibility
for people ages 18-80 (full criteria)
Location
at UC Irvine
Dates
study started
study ends around
Principal Investigator
by Richard E Harris, PhD (uci)
Headshot of Richard E Harris
Richard E Harris

Description

Summary

The proposed research is to determine the clinical efficacy and neurobiological mechanisms of acupressure analgesia in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Official Title

Acupressure in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease

Details

This study will help the investigators learn whether acupressure, a non-pharmacological alternative treatment approach, can help manage pain in patients with sickle cell disease. Acupressure involves the application of pressure stimulation at specific acupoints on the body. Acupressure may help relieve pain and is used for a wide variety of pain conditions. Participation in this study will consist of remote self-administered treatment every other day over 5 weeks, followed by 6 months of remote follow-up visits. During participation, subjects will: 1) receive detailed instruction on locating treatment acupoints and completing study procedures remotely, 2) be assigned a treatment kit, 3) answer questions about their personal and health-related information for assessing their health condition before, during, and after the treatment during follow-up sessions, and 4) collect inner eyelid images for examining the hemoglobin level on a weekly basis at steady phase and daily basis during acute vaso-occlusive crisis stage.

Keywords

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), Sickle Cell Disease, Pain, Acupressure, Inner Eyelid Imaging, Sickle Cell Anemia, Verum Acupressure (using AcuWand)

Eligibility

You can join if…

Open to people ages 18-80

Any gender

18-80 (Adults) years old

Have been diagnosed with SCD and experiencing chronic pain in the past 6 months

Either outpatient or inpatient or status changing between each other

Willing to limit the current and the introduction of any new medications or treatment modalities for control of pain symptoms during the study visits

Willing to stick to the scheduled acupressure treatments every other day for 5 weeks

Fluent in English and capable of giving written informed consent

You CAN'T join if...

Recent/ongoing alternative pain management with acupuncture/acupressure or acupuncture/acupressure-related techniques within the last 6 months

Presence of a concurrent autoimmune or inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, etc. that causes pain or any other chronic pain condition with pain greater than sickle pain

Diseases/conditions history includes but not limited to:

Head injury with substantial loss of consciousness Known non-SCD-related severe psychiatric illnesses (e.g. current schizophrenia, major depression with suicidal ideation) Significant visual, motor, or auditory impairment that would interfere with ability to perform study visits-related activities

Locations

  • University of California, Irvine
    Irvine California 92697 United States
  • University of Cincinnati
    Cincinnati Ohio 45229 United States

Lead Scientist at University of California Health

  • Richard E Harris, PhD (uci)
    Richard Harris is an Endowed Chair in the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute and Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care in the School of Medicine at the University of California at Irvine. His background is in basic science and clinical research in alternative medicine. He received his B.S. degree in Genetics from Purdue University in 1992 and his Ph. D.

Details

Status
not yet accepting patients
Start Date
Completion Date
(estimated)
Sponsor
University of Cincinnati
Links
Acupressure alleviates pain and clinical symptoms in patients with sickle cell disease
ID
NCT07875777
Study Type
Interventional
Participants
Expecting 300 study participants
Last Updated