Electroacupuncture for slow flow/no-reflow phenomenon in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial

TL;DR

This pilot study tests if electroacupuncture during heart procedures can help reduce a dangerous blood flow issue in heart attack patients.

Contribution

The study is the first to investigate electroacupuncture's effect on slow flow/no-reflow during PCI in AMI patients.

Findings

The trial will assess if electroacupuncture reduces the incidence of slow flow/no-reflow during PCI.

Secondary outcomes include evaluating cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers, as well as patient-reported symptoms.

Results may support electroacupuncture as a potential new strategy for improving microvascular perfusion in AMI patients.

Abstract

Slow flow/no-reflow (SF-NR) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with poor prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Currently, effective treatment is not available for SF-NR. Electroacupuncture (EA) has shown significant efficacy as an adjuvant therapy for many cardiovascular diseases by improving microcirculation and reducing ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, its effects on SF-NR in the AMI patients during PCI are not clear. This pilot trial aims to determine the efficacy of intraoperative EA in alleviating SF-NR in AMI patients undergoing PCI.

This prospective, single-center, randomized controlled, pilot trial will recruit 60 AMI patients scheduled for PCI at the Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, China. The patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio into the EA or the control groups. Patients in the control group will undergo standard PCI. Patients in the EA group will undergo intraoperative electroacupuncture while undergoing standard PCI. Incidence of SF-NR is the primary outcome for this study. This study will also assess secondary outcomes including cardiac biomarkers, inflammatory biomarkers, pain and anxiety scores, electrocardiography parameters, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom score, and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). All the included patients will undergo laboratory tests including routine blood tests, levels of electrolytes, as well as liver and renal function tests. Patients will be followed up for 1 month after the procedure.

This pilot trial will provide evidence for the potential benefits of intraoperative EA in improving microvascular perfusion and preventing or alleviating SF-NR during PCI in patients with AMI. If proven effective, intraoperative EA will provide a new and effective strategy against SF-NR and provide evidence for subsequent multicenter trials.

ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (ChiCTR2300072265). Registered on 8 June 2023.

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