Acupuncture in the Emergency Department for Pain Management: A BraveNet Multi-Center 
Feasibility Study (ACUITY) 
Jeffery Dusek, PhD

Pain plays a significant role in emergency department (ED) visits, however safe and effective nonpharmacologic options are needed. ACUITY, a prospectively designed multi-center feasibility RCT had a goal of recruiting 165 adults with acute pain ≥4 on a 0-10-point scale at three EDs affiliated with BraveNet. 632 eligible individuals were approached and 165 enrolled (26.1%). Notably, 42.4% were Black/African American, 42.4% were White/Caucasian, and 13.9% were Hispanic/Latino. Retention was successfully established by 151 (91.5%) and 128 (77.6%) participants providing pain/anxiety scores at post-treatment and 1-week respectively. Successful completion of ACUITY indicates we have the expertise and preliminary data to conduct a future definitive, multi-center RCT.

Jeffery A. Dusek, PhD, is a Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California-Irvine (UCI) and Director of Outcomes Research at the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, UCI. Dr. Dusek has 25+ years of experience leading innovative integrative health and medicine (IHH) research at research and healthcare institutions in the United States.

Dusek is the contact PI of a multi-site R01 from NCCIH to study the effects of acupuncture on acute pain for individuals in three Emergency Departments affiliated with the BraveNet Practice Based Research Network (PBRN).  BraveNet PBRN includes 26 well-known integrative health clinics across the US, Canada and Australia (ssihi.uci.edu/research/bravenet/). Dusek serves as BraveNet PBRN’s PRIMIER study, which was a real-world, multi-site observational study of overall 2500 patients.

Dusek has published over 100 scientific articles in peer reviewed medical literature and, according to Google Scholar his research has been cited over 11,000 times.  His research has been published in eminent journals such as the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Circulation, JAMA Network Open and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. His research has been featured in such venues as the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today and National Public Radio.

Register here:
​​​​​​​https://ucsf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEud-itpjIqG9bIo9F_D-ewr92egIgUEIDo

For information on Research Seminars at the Osher Center for Integrative Health, visit our website: https://osher.ucsf.edu/research/research-seminars