Efficacy of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Moderate-to-severe Atopic Dermatitis

This study used a multicentre parallel three-armed randomised sham-controlled clinical trial methodology in order to objectively and normatively assess the efficacy of acupuncture on Quchi the Sea of Blood the Foot Sanli and the Sanyinjiao in the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis so as to obtain high-level evidence-based medical evidence. This study adopts a multi-centre, parallel, three-armed, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial method, and will be conducted at Yueyang Hospital of Integrative Medicine affiliated with Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, and Seventh People's Hospital affiliated with Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Eligible patients with moderate-to-severe AD will be divided into three groups using stratified block randomisation in the ratio of 2:2:1: the acupuncture group, the sham-acupuncture group and the waitlisted control group. The total observation period is 9 weeks, including a 1-week introduction period, a 4-week treatment period and a 4-week follow-up period.