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✦ The Dispatch

Acupuncture for chronic tinnitus: study protocol for a clinical trial with auditory brainstem response outcomes

A dispatch from PubMed — filed

Chronic tinnitus is a common clinical condition with no universally accepted effective treatment option. Increasing evidence suggests that dysfunction within the auditory pathway may contribute to tinnitus pathophysiology, and auditory brainstem response (ABR) has been proposed as a potential objective measure of auditory neurophysiological function....

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✦ The floor

Discussion

Signed responses from readers of the wire.

✦ Clinical Takeaway ✦

No actionable clinical change at this stage; this is a published protocol only — no results are available yet.

✦ Why It Matters ✦

A rigorously designed trial using objective ABR (auditory brainstem response) outcomes could help resolve long-standing uncertainty about whether acupuncture has a measurable neurophysiological effect on tinnitus.

✦ Key Points ✦
  1. 01Published in Frontiers in Neurology; this is a protocol paper, not a results paper.
  2. 02Will test acupuncture as an intervention for chronic tinnitus.
  3. 03Primary outcome measure is auditory brainstem response (ABR), an objective neurophysiological test.
  4. 04No efficacy data are available yet; awaiting trial completion.
  5. 05Adds methodological rigor to a historically under-powered research area.
✦ Claims & Evidence ✦

Auditory brainstem response outcomes can objectively measure the effect of acupuncture on tinnitus.

opinionunclear
✦ Research metadata ✦
PMID
42787075
DOI
10.3389/fneur.2026.1928456.
Journal
Frontiers in Neurology
Publication type
clinical_trial_protocol
Evidence level
na
Population
Adults with chronic tinnitus
Intervention
Acupuncture

Primary outcomes

Auditory brainstem response (ABR) outcomes

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