Every year, approximately 10,000 people in the United States survive the initial trauma and are hospitalized with a new spinal cord injury (SCI). Most SCIs result in lifelong disability due to neurological impairment. Although considerable technological advances, especially in emergency medicine, have radically reduced early mortality from SCI over the last 60 years, the evidence for existing treatment interventions to significantly improve neurological outcomes beyond those seen with natural recovery is limited. The purpose of this project is to implement and evaluate an exploratory/developmental feasibility study using a randomized, blinded controlled design to compare neurological recovery after spinal cord injury in individuals receiving an acupuncture protocol designed to maximize treatment effectiveness (treatment protocol) with an alternative acupuncture protocol designed to minimize treatment effectiveness (control). The two acupuncture protocols will be identical except for 1) needle placement, 2) use of sham, non-penetrating needles, and 3) use of electricity for needle stimulation. Participants will include 30 individuals age 16 years and older hospitalized with acute spinal cord injury classified as Incomplete, Grade B or C, using the International Standards for Neurological Classification of SCI. Participants will be randomly assigned to the Treatment or Control group and receive a 30 minute acupuncture treatment, 3 times a week, for 6 weeks for a total of 18 treatments. ? The overall aim of the research is to test the hypothesis: acupuncture treatment results in greater neurological recovery than a control treatment after an incomplete SCI. The exploratory and developmental research will establish that blinding is adequate, assure reliability of outcome assessment, provide pilot data for power calculations, and identify recruitment and retention rates for a larger, more definitive study. ? ? ?
