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Background Postoperative ileus (POI) occurs in almost all patients after abdominal laparoscopic surgery, resulting in complications and increasing the length of hospitalization. Electroacupuncture has been used as an alternative therapy for gastrointestinal dysfunction, but its efficacy for POI is inconclusive. The study is designed to determine whether electroacupuncture can accelerate recovery from POI. Methods/design This study is a three-arm, randomized controlled trial. A total of 105 patients will be randomized into a group receiving electroacupuncture at Tianshu (ST25), a group receiving electroacupuncture at Zusanli (ST36), or a control group in a 1:1:1 ratio. Patients in the electroacupuncture groups will receive electroacupuncture treatment for 4 days from the first day after surgery. The primary outcome consists of the time to first flatus and the time to first defecation. Secondary outcomes include the time to first tolerance of liquid and semiliquid food; the length of the hospital stay; postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting; abdominal distension; the time to first get out of bed; and postoperative complications. The outcomes will be assessed by the patients themselves every day during hospitalization. Surgeons, nurses, assessors, and statisticians will be blinded to the group assignments. Patients in the two electroacupuncture groups, but not in the control group, will be blinded to the group assignments. The acupuncturists will not be blinded. Discussion The aim of this trial is to provide a nonpharmacological therapy for POI and may provide evidence of the effect of electroacupuncture at ST25 or ST36 on POI. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1900027466. Registered on 14 November 2019.

Background This study aims to determine whether 3 sessions per week of acupuncture treatment is superior to 1 session per week of acupuncture treatment for symptomatic outcomes in knee osteoarthritis. Methods/design This is a two parallel-group, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Sixty patients with knee osteoarthritis (Kellgren–Lawrence grade II or III) will be recruited and randomly allocated to receive 24 or 8 sessions (group M or group L) of acupuncture treatment in a 1:1 ratio. Patients in group M will receive 3 sessions per week of acupuncture for 8 weeks. Patients in group L will receive acupuncture once per week for 8 weeks. The primary outcome is the response rate—the percentage of patients achieving a decrease ≥ 2 points on a numerical rating pain scale and a decrease ≥ 6 points in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index function score at 8 weeks compared with baseline. Secondary outcomes include pain, function, overall effect, quality of life, and treatment credibility and expectancy. Discussion Three sessions per week of acupuncture treatment may be superior to 1 session per week of acupuncture treatment for symptomatic outcomes in knee osteoarthritis. Results of the study will be of great importance for the guidelines of clinical therapy. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03359603. Registered on 1 December 2017. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-019-3528-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders. Although the available evidence for its efficacy is inconclusive, acupuncture is used as an alternative therapy for KOA. The aim of this trial is to determine the efficacy of electro-acupuncture and manual acupuncture versus sham acupuncture for KOA.This is a study protocol for a randomised, three-arm, multicentre, clinical trial. A total of 480 patients with KOA will be randomly assigned to the electro-acupuncture group, the manual acupuncture group or the sham acupuncture group in a 1:1:1 ratio. All patients will receive 24 sessions over 8 weeks. Participants will complete the trial by visiting the research centre at week 26 for a follow-up assessment. The primary outcome is the success rate: the proportion of patients achieving a minimal clinically important improvement, which is defined as ≥2 points on the numerical rating scale and ≥6 points on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) function score at week 8 compared with baseline. Secondary outcomes include the numerical rating scale, WOMAC score, global patient assessment and quality of life at weeks 4, 8, 16 and 26 after randomisation.This trial may provide high-quality evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of KOA. The results of this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals.ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03274713 . Registered on 20 November 2017.

Background Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders. Although the available evidence for its efficacy is inconclusive, acupuncture is used as an alternative therapy for KOA. The aim of this trial is to determine the efficacy of electro-acupuncture and manual acupuncture versus sham acupuncture for KOA. Methods/design This is a study protocol for a randomised, three-arm, multicentre, clinical trial. A total of 480 patients with KOA will be randomly assigned to the electro-acupuncture group, the manual acupuncture group or the sham acupuncture group in a 1:1:1 ratio. All patients will receive 24 sessions over 8 weeks. Participants will complete the trial by visiting the research centre at week 26 for a follow-up assessment. The primary outcome is the success rate: the proportion of patients achieving a minimal clinically important improvement, which is defined as ≥2 points on the numerical rating scale and ≥6 points on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) function score at week 8 compared with baseline. Secondary outcomes include the numerical rating scale, WOMAC score, global patient assessment and quality of life at weeks 4, 8, 16 and 26 after randomisation. Discussion This trial may provide high-quality evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of KOA. The results of this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03274713. Registered on 20 November 2017. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-3138-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.