Needles vs. pain: acupuncture tested after hemorrhoid surgery
NCT ID NCT07238504
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests if acupuncture can lower pain and the need for painkillers after hemorrhoid removal. About 100 adults having surgery for severe hemorrhoids will get either real acupuncture or a sham version over 5 days. Researchers will track pain levels, medication use, and recovery to see if acupuncture helps.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 100 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Mar 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Apr 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 90 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Symptomatic grade III or IV hemorrhoids undergoing conventional hemorrhoidectomy Exclusion Criteria: 1. Patients scheduled for stapled hemorrhoidopexy 2. Concomitant surgery other than conventional hemorrhoidectomy 3. Bleeding tendency, thrombocytopenia (platelet count \< 100 x 10\^9/L) 4. Immunocompromised status or use of chemotherapy 5. Active dermatitis 6. Patients with pacemaker or automated implantable cardioverter-defibrillator 7. Pregnant patients 8. Known allergy to opioids, local anaesthetic drugs, paracetamol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) including cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors 9. History of chronic pain (duration for 3 months or more) 10. Daily use of strong opioids (e.g. morphine, fentanyl, hydromorphone, methadone, oxycodone, or meperidine) 11. Alcohol or drug abuse 12. Psychiatric illness 13. Impaired renal function (preoperative serum creatinine level \> 120µmol/L) 14. Recent acupuncture treatment for other medical conditions
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- One tiny needle, big relief? hand acupuncture put to the test
- Can High-Tech tools make hemorrhoid surgery less painful?
- A microscope score for hemorrhoid surgery: could it lead to less pain?
- Ice pack after hemorrhoid surgery could cut pain and pill use
- Could a tiny camera make hemorrhoid surgery less painful?