A Clinical Trial of Electro-acupuncture for Treating Gallstone Diseases

Launched by CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG · Mar 25, 2019

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Introduction:

Gallstone disease is a significant health problem affecting 10%-15% of the adult population. Gallstone diseases include cholelithiasis, choledocholithiasis or intrahepatic gallstones. In Hong Kong, gallstones are found in 2-3% of the population and 20% of the gallstones are symptomatic. To date, cholecystectomy is the gold standard treatment for acute cholecystitis. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the preferred modality for elective cholecystectomy and is advised mainly for symptomatic gallstones such as acute cholecystitis or biliary pancreatitis. It is recommended that the ...

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Patients aged 18 to 70 years of age who are diagnosed of gallstone diseases with the last observable ultrasonography.
• • 2. Patients with symptoms such as recurrent biliary colic
• • 3. Wait-listed for elective cholecystectomy or being recommended to have cholecystectomy by surgeons.
• • 4. Largest gallstone size of smaller than 0.8cm.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Gallstones with the size that cannot be assessed precisely by ultrasound
• • 2. Any gallstone larger than 0.8cm
• • 3. Poor gallbladder ejection fraction computed from Ultrasound-determined fasting and post-prandial gallbladder volumes
• • 4. Contraindication to MRI
• • 5. Patients contraindicated for ERCP
• • 6. Cardiovascular disease with decompensation (New York Heart Association class III or IV)
• • 7. Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• • 8. Alcoholism
• • 9. Intravenous drug users
• • 10. Needle phobia;
• • 11. Unable to respond consistently in trial-out questions of the questionnaire;
• • 12. Refused to provide written informed consent for joining the study