Acupuncture Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Exacerbation

Acupuncture Efficacy in the Treatment of Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease During Hospitalization: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health problem. Acute exacerbations are a health-care burden involving frequent hospitalizations and elevated costs. They have effective therapies with significant side effects. Acupuncture has been shown to reduce dyspnea and other COPD-related symptoms. The investigators will compare the efficacy and safety of the addition of true acupuncture to usual care with both sham-acupressure added to usual care and usual care only for the treatment of acute exacerbations of COPD among inpatients.

This is an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial in the setting of a tertiary academic medical center in Israel. Patients with clinical diagnosis of acute exacerbation of COPD will be randomized to either usual care only, usual care with true acupuncture or usual care with sham-acupressure. The primary outcome will be clinical improvement of dyspnea as measured by mBorg scale. Secondary outcomes included improvement of other patient-reported outcomes and physiologic features, as well as duration of hospitalization and treatment failure. Acupuncture-related side effects will be evaluated by the validated Acupuncture Adverse Events (AcupAE) questionnaire.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Previous diagnosis of COPD
• Clinical diagnosis of acute exacerbation of COPD
• Informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Hemodynamic instability
• Platelet count < 20 x 10^9/L
• Expected respiratory deterioration requiring mechanical ventilation in the next 24 hours