Immediate analgesic effect of acupuncture intervention within 10 min during acute migraine attacks: protocol of a randomised controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Migraine is a widespread neurological disorder characterised by recurrent moderate-to-severe headaches. These headaches can seriously affect patients’ daily life and work, especially during acute attacks when patients often need immediate pain relief. This study aims to assess the immediate analgesic effect of acupuncture for 10 min during acute migraine attacks. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study will randomly divide 80 participants into either the acupuncture group or the sham acupuncture group with an allocation ratio of 1:1. Each group will receive 10 min of treatment, and the post-treatment evaluation will be performed after 0, 0–2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 min of acupuncture. The primary outcome is the pain Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score assessed before and after treatment at 10 min. Additionally, secondary outcomes include the pain VAS score assessed at 0–2, 4, 6 and 8 min, blinding assessment and treatment effectiveness expectations scale. Data will be collected at baseline time and the end of treatment (after 10 min). Adverse events during each treatment period will be collected and recorded. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine (2022–008). All participants will provide written informed consent before randomisation. The results of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Chinese Clinical Trial Registration Center (ChiCTR2200066976).