Efficacy of Korean Manupuncture on Pain in Women With Endometriosis: a Parallel-group Randomized Controlled Trial

Endometriosis is defined as the presence and development of hormone-dependent endometrial tissue comprising both glands and stroma outside the endometrium and myometrium.

It affects 10-15% of women of childbearing age; of these, 25% are diagnosed following a consultation for infertility, and 25% following a consultation for pelvic pain.

This disease has a strong functional (pain and infertility) and organic impact, its numerous symptoms can have a considerable effect on quality of life.

Individualized analgesic management with multidisciplinary care (medical, surgical and psychological) can improve quality of life for women with endometriosis, but current treatment remains insufficient.

Korean manupuncture is a complementary treatment technique that does not interact with current treatments. It's a holistic discipline that draws up a highly detailed map of the body's correspondence on the hand. Each body zone corresponds to a zone on the hand.

The aim of this research is to evaluate the effect of Korean manupuncture on endometriosis-related pain.

Patients will be randomly assigned to 2 groups, 30 to the "Korean manupuncture" group and 30 to the "placebo/control" group. Patients will be blinded to their assigned group.

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Key information

Conditions

Endometriosis Female Urogenital Diseases Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications Genital Diseases Genital Diseases, Female Neurologic Manifestations Pain Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms Urogenital Diseases

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Chu Dijon Bourgogne

Dijon, France

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Person having given oral consent
Woman of legal age
Woman diagnosed with endometriosis consulting for pain management

Exclusion criteria

Not affiliated to the national health insurance system
Person under legal protection (curatorship, guardianship)
Person under court order
Pregnant or breast-feeding women
Menopausal women (menopause is defined as amenorrhea lasting more than 12 consecutive months)
An adult unable to give consent
Women who have had a hysterectomy
Women who cannot speak or read French
Hands not accessible for treatment
Inability to follow the entire protocol
Cognitive impairment

Treatment and study plan

Korean manupuncture

Other

Energy assessment on hands and body Correspondence point technique on hands Energy rebalancing with ki Maeks on hands Moxa technique on hands

Placebo session

Other

Energy assessment on hands and body Correspondence point technique on the hands Energy rebalancing with ki Maeks on hands (use of Qi bong) Moxa technique on hands (placebo moxas)

Primary outcomes

Variation in the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

Time frame: Between Day 1 and Day 29

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Dijon

Other

Registry information

Acronym: ENVOL

Important dates

Study start: 2023
Primary completion: 2025
Study completion: 2025
First posted: Oct 10, 2023
Registry last updated: Feb 9, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed