Randomized trial of acupressure to improve patient satisfaction and quality of recovery in hospitalized patients: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Acupressure therapy may be potentially beneficial in improving postoperative symptoms like postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), pain and sleep disorder and improving postoperative quality of recovery. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of acupressure therapy on postoperative patient satisfaction and quality of recovery in hospitalized patients after surgical treatment. METHODS/DESIGN: This three-group, parallel, superiority, blinded, randomized controlled trial will test the hypothesis that a combination of PC6, LI4 and HT7 acupressure is superior to sham or no intervention for improving postoperative quality of recovery in hospitalized patients. A minimum of 150 patients will be randomly allocated to one of the three experimental groups: control (no visit), light touch (sham acupressure) or active acupressure therapy in a 1:1:1 ratio. Interventions will be performed three times a day for 2 days. Patient satisfaction, quality of recovery, PONV and pain will be measured during the 3 days following randomization. The study protocol was approved by the Stony Brook University Institutional Review Board on 21 March 2016. Written informed consent will be recorded from every consented patient. DISCUSSION: This study has the potential to improve the recovery of hospitalized patients by adding knowledge on the efficacy of acupressure therapy in this setting. A multipoint acupressure protocol will be compared to both a no intervention group and a light touch group, providing insight into different aspects of the placebo effect. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrial.gov, NCT02762435. Registered on 14 April 2016. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-1839-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.