Tapping in Together: A Pilot Study on Group Acupuncture for Ketamine Experience Integration

Academy of Oriental Medicine Austin

Status: Completed

Conditions: Acupuncture

Treatments: Procedure: Acupuncture

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06070090

23C.MN

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this pilot trial is to learn about using acupuncture for ketamine experience integration in adults aged 21-65 who are medically cleared for a ketamine prescription. The aim is to inform future controlled trials investigating efficacy by evaluating the success of:

• recruitment
• retention
• assessment procedures
• implementation of group acupuncture interventions performed just after a ketamine experience

Participants will be given acupuncture in a group setting after a small-group ketamine experience. The following day, participants will be asked to complete a few brief surveys about their experience.

Full description

The study will solicit participants to enroll in a physician-supervised ketamine experience directly followed by group acupuncture administered in New York City, between October 1, 2023 and February 28, 2024. A group of 12-28 participants will be enrolled in the study and assigned a participant ID once screened by the researcher and medically approved by the prescribing physician.

Group acupuncture treatments will be conducted one hour after a group ketamine experience commences. The group acupuncture sessions will start with the researcher approaching each participant individually and asking to examine their pulse and tongue. The participants will be given an opportunity to share any information they would like to about specific issues they would like to address with acupuncture. If nothing is shared, the researcher will select treatment points based on their pulse, tongue, body palpation, and intake data. The general location of the points selected will be shared with the participant to gain their consent for treating those areas prior to needle insertion. While the acupuncture needles are retained, participants will rest with music playing. The needles will then be removed, one at a time, from each patient in order of treatment (unless a participant requests needle removal before then). After needle removal, the participants will be asked to sit up for a few minutes before exiting the treatment room. Both the licensed acupuncturist researcher and a psychotherapist will be in the treatment room throughout the 1-hour group acupuncture session.

Participants will be emailed a validated survey via a REDCap secure link before the group acupuncture session (if they had a previous ketamine experience), after their group acupuncture session as well as 3 months from the date of their group acupuncture session. Participants will also be sent optional feedback forms through REDCap after each acupuncture session.

Enrollment: 15 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• between ages 21-65
• participant in a group ketamine experience between October 1, 2023 and February 28, 2024

Exclusion criteria

• currently pregnant or breastfeeding
• has a terminal illness
• does not pass medical clearance for ketamine prescription

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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15 participants in 1 patient group

Treatment Group

Experimental group

Description:

This is the group of participants who will receive group acupuncture after a ketamine experience.

Treatment:

Procedure: Acupuncture