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Brain Mechanisms of Video-Guided Acupuncture Imagery Treatment on Chronic Low Back Pain

Active, not recruitingNot applicableNCT03765879
View the official record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Recruiting status changes often. Contact the study team listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, and talk to your doctor before joining a study.

This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.

Brief summary (from the registry)

In this study, the investigators will examine the analgesic effects of acupuncture imagery treatment in patients with chronic low back pain. The intervention used in this study is "video-guided acupuncture imagery treatment" (VGAIT) treatment. The control used in this study is sham (fake) VGAIT. Participants in each group will participate in 8 study sessions (including 6 treatment sessions) over the course of 6 weeks. The primary outcome measure for this study is change in low back pain severity score after each treatment session.

Study details

Official title
Brain Mechanisms of Video-Guided Acupuncture Imagery Treatment on Chronic Low Back Pain
Conditions
Interventions
  • Other: Verum VGAIT (Video-Guided Acupuncture Imagery Treatment)
  • Other: Sham VGAIT (Video-Guided Acupuncture Imagery Treatment)
Sponsor
Massachusetts General Hospital
Start date
2019-02-14
Primary completion
2024-07-27
Sex
All
Age range
from 18 Years to 60 Years
Results posted
No results posted in this snapshot
Countries
United States
Total sites listed
1

Eligibility criteria

Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: * Volunteers 18-60 years of age * Meet the Classification Criteria of the chronic low back pain (having low back pain for more than 6 months), as determined by the referring physician. * At least 4/10 clinical pain on the 11-point low back pain intensity scale. * Must have had a prior evaluation of their low back pain by a health care provider, which may have included radiographic studies. Documentation of this evaluation will be sought from Partners or outside medical records and kept in the subject's research record. * At least a 10th grade English-reading level; English can be a second language provided that the patients feel they understand all the questions used in the assessment measures. Exclusion Criteria: * Specific causes of back pain (e.g. cancer, fractures, infections), * Complicated back problems (e.g. prior back surgery, medico legal issues), * Possible contraindications for acupuncture (e.g. coagulation disorders, cardiac pacemakers, pregnancy, seizure disorder), and conditions that might confound longitudinal effects or interpretation of results (e.g. severe fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis). * Conditions making study participation difficult (eg, paralysis, psychoses, or other severe psychological problems as per the judgment of a study investigator during Session 1) * The intent to undergo surgery during the time of involvement in the study. * History of cardiac, respiratory, or nervous system disease that, in the investigator's judgment, precludes participation in the study because of a heightened potential for adverse outcome. For example: asthma or claustrophobia. * Unresolved medical legal/disability/workers compensation claims in connection with low back pain. * Active substance abuse disorder in the past 24 months, as determined by self-report and/or urine toxicology * Lacking the capacity to consent for oneself

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03765879