Acupuncture Mechanism in Relief of Gag Reflex

NCT07664826 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: BB150/25
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The gag reflex relief effect of acupuncture of CV24 acupoint will be compared to acupuncture of PC6 and K3 acupoints in healthy volunteers in crossover mode. Second step will be the investigation whether local anesthesia using EMLA creme will block the gag relief effect of CV24 acupuncture in healthy volunteers.

Conditions

Gag (Pharyngeal) Reflex

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Length of saliva injector insertion (cm)

  Saliva injector is inserted intraoral slowly until the gagging (pharyngeal reflex) is elicited; the length of insertion of saliva injector will be measured in centimeters

  Day 1 ( before and after acupuncture)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Severity of gagging, measured using the Numeric Rating Scale NRS-11 (0=no gagging; 10=maximal)

  Day 1 ( before and after acupuncture)

Study Arms (3)

CV24

EXPERIMENTAL

Needling of acupoint PC6

Other: Acupuncture

PC6

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Needling of acupoint PC6

Other: Acupuncture

K3

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Needling of acupoint K3

Other: Acupuncture

Interventions

Acupuncture OTHER

Needling of acupoints CV24, PC6 and K3

CV24; K3; PC6

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 20 Years - 40 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Healthy volunteers aged between 20-40 years old with an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status of I to II naïve to acupuncture
• Participants without previous opioid and psychotropic medication
• Without use of recreational drugs 3 days prior to study sessions
• Without systemic disease or local skin lesions at the sites of acupuncture
• Without drug allergy to local anesthetics, especially EMLA preparation
• Participants who have given written informed consent

You may not qualify if:

• Local skin infection at the sites of acupuncture
• Aged \< 20 or \> 35 years
• History of drug allergy to local anesthetics
• Participants who are unable to understand the consent form or to use numeric rating scale NRS-11
• Discontinuation Criteria
• Any adverse effects during study session
• In case of local or systemic infection
• In case if subject will withdraw from participation in this study at any time, for any reason, specified or non-specified, and without penalty or loss of benefits

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Medicine Greifswald: lead

Study Sites (1)

University Medicine of Greifswald

Greifswald, 17475, Germany

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Acupuncture Therapy

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics

Central Study Contacts

Taras I Usichenko, Prof. Dr. med., MD, PhD

CONTACT

+49 (0) 3434864028; tarasik@me.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Dr. med.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 8, 2026
• First Posted: June 24, 2026
• Study Start: January 21, 2026
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2026
• Study Completion: August 1, 2026
• Last Updated: June 24, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR
• Time Frame: After publication of study results
• Access Criteria: On request via email contact to the corresponding author

Locations

DE (1)