Auriculotherapy as adjunct for pain management during first trimester aspiration abortion: A randomized, double-blind, three arm trial
Abortion
Awarded 2019
Complex Family Planning Fellowship Research
Johana Oviedo, MD, MPH
Columbia University
$15,000

A randomized, double-blind, three arm trial at a single abortion clinic that will assess whether auricular acupressure with beads in addition to usual care (paracervical block and ibuprofen) reduces subject-reported maximum pain compared to usual care alone. We also seek to confirm the previous finding that acupuncture with needles as an adjunct to usual care reduces subject-reported maximum pain compared to usual care alone. A secondary outcome will be comparing anxiety scores between the three groups.