Fidelity to the acupuncture intervention protocol in the ACUpuncture In The EmergencY Department for Pain Management (ACUITY) trial: expanding the gold standard of STRICTA and CONSORT guidelines.

Acupuncture shows promise as an effective nonpharmacologic option for reduction of acute pain in the emergency department (ED). Following CONSORT and STRICTA guidelines, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) generally report intervention details and acupoint options, but fidelity to acupuncture interventions, critical to reliability in intervention research, is rarely reported.