• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.1-18
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• 2019

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment for recovery of patients with vertebral compression fracture(VCF). Methods : We searched ten English and Chinese and seven Korean database up to April 2018. Randomised controlled trials(RCTs), quasi-RCTs, non-radomised Controlled Trials(CCTs) were eligible. Quasi-RCTs and CCTs were assessed only for safety assessment. Pain and adverse events were primary outcome of this review. Quality of life, dysfunction, patient satisfaction, incidence of new vertebral compression fracture were regarded as secondary outcomes. The risk of bias was assessed by two independent authors using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Level of evidence was tabulated using the GRADE methods. Results : Of 1656 screened, 15 RCTs, 1 quasi-RCT and 3 CCTs were included. Number of participants per study ranged from 45 to 135. Most of the studies had unclear or high risk of bias and considerable heterogeneity in terms of type of intervention, comparison and time-points for outcome measurement. Compared to usual care alone, acupuncture combined with usual care showed short-term favorable results for pain relief in patients with VCF(5 studies, n=252, MD -1.05 point on a 0 to 10 point scale, 95% CI -1.45 to -0.65, $I^2=74%$). Four studies reported mild and temporary adverse events, and no serious adverse events were reported. One study descriptively reported that acupuncture was effective for improving quality of life without providing numerical outcomes. There were no reports of patient satisfaction and incidence of new VCF. Conclusions : Level of evidence is very low for the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for pain, harms and other clinical outcomes in patients with VCF. Included studies suffered from incomplete reporting, high or unclear risk of bias and substantial heterogeneity between studies. Future high-quality RCTs are needed to assess whether acupuncture is beneficial for recovery of patients with VCF.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제41권6호
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• pp.1100-1118
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of acupuncture as a treatment for allergic rhinitis (AR). We used a meta-analysis and systematic review to analyze the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that applied acupuncture to AR patients. Methods: The key question assessed the effects of acupuncture on patients with AR, and we included only RCTs. We searched the KoreaMed, NDSL, KMBASE, Koreantk, OASIS, PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases, with no language restriction. We assessed risk of bias with the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. The random effects model was used to adjust for the heterogeneity of the included studies, and the effect sizes between two groups were reported as mean differences (MD) and risk ratios (RR). Results: Twelve RCTs were analyzed, with a total of 1788 participants; 824 participants were in the treatment group (i.e., acupuncture) and 964 were in the control group (sham acupuncture, western medicine, or waitlist). The meta-analysis results of 7 RCTs comparing the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture with that of sham acupuncture showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) and the Change of Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS). The meta-analysis of 4 RCTs comparing the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture with western medicine showed statistically significant differences (p<0.05) in the RQLQ but not in the changes in effective rate (p>0.05). Conclusions: Acupuncture can be an effective treatment for AR, but more studies are required to enhance the level of evidence and to confirm safety.

• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.28-35
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• 2021

To analyze the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for spastic hemiplegia after stroke, this study was accomplished by considering Randomized Controlled Trials. We searched for papers that performed acupuncture for spastic hemiplegia after stroke in the China Academic Journal of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, from January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020. In total, 23 reports were included in this review. There are 18 studies conducted with more than 50 subjects and less than 100 subjects. The largest number of treatment was 20 times. 28days(4weeks) was the largest number of treatment period, which accounted 10 studies. The most frequently used evaluation index was The Fugl-Meyer Assessment(FMA) and Clinical Efficacy, each used 21 times and 17 times. The most frequently used acupuncture point was LI3, which was used 13 times. The retention time was 30 minutes and 11 studies were conducted. Western medicine treatment was the most common control group in 15 studies. Most of studies showed result of the intervention group was statistically significant, compared with the control group. These results suggest that acupuncture for spastic hemiplegia after stroke was effective and it was statistically more significant than the control group. However, it is difficult to confirm a conclusion, because the quality of most of studies was low.

• 대한중풍순환신경학회지
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.25-40
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• 2022

■Objectives This study aimed to collect and analyze clinical studies on the significance of acupuncture in the treatment of hypertension among Korean patients. ■Methods Among Korean patients with a blood pressure (BP) of 120 mmHg or higher and a diastolic BP of 80 mmHg or higher, those, treated with acupuncture only, were included. A literature search was conducted through 'Embase', 'Medline', 'Science and Technology Information Integration Service (NDSL)', 'Traditional Korean Knowledge Portal (OASIS)', 'PubMed', and 'Scopus'. The search keywords were (hypertension OR 'blood pressure') AND acupuncture. The papers, published before the day of the search (02. January 2022), were included in this study. ■Results Among the 12 selected papers, seven involved randomized controlled trial (RCT), four before-and-after studies, and one case series. The number of RCTs has increased yearly. The treatment methods used in the studies included needle acupuncture in eight studies, auricular acupuncture in two, pharmacopuncture in one, and si-acupuncture in one. The average numbers of patients enrolled in RCTs, before-and-after studies, and case series were 21.1, 30, and 23 respectively. Six studies were conducted on prehypertensive patients, two on stage 1 hypertension patients, and four on stage 2 hypertension patients. The involved acupoints have been reported to be ST36 in eight papers, LI11 in four papers, and PC6 in three papers. The treatment period lasted for < 1 week in eight studies and 8 weeks in four studies. Acupuncture successfully lowered blood pressure in nine out of 12 studies ■Conclusions Acupuncture is a viable alternative treatment option for prehypertensive patients, who are not taking medications. Additionally, it is also useful in further lowering the BP of patients with stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension in the short term. Large-scale and long-term studies on acupuncture for hypertension should be conducted.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• 제40권3호
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• pp.62-78
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• 2023

Objectives : This study aims to assess the impact of acupotomy on migraine through an examination of clinical studies conducted since 2015. Methods : We conducted a comprehensive search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled trials (nRCTs) related to acupotomy treatment for migraine, utilizing five Korean online databases (OASIS, Science ON, DBPIA, KISS, RISS), as well as four foreign online databases (CNKI, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library). We identified a total of 10 relevant studies for analysis. Participants characteristics, treatment points, combination treatments, treatment cycles or frequencies, evaluation indices, efficacy, and adverse events were analyzed. The risk of bias in the 10 RCTs was assessed using the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2.0). Results : A total of 931 participants were included in 10 studies. In the intervention group, the average duration of migraine morbidity ranged from 15.5±4.5 months to 15.9±4.2 years. Six studies based their diagnoses on the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD), while five studies relied on Chinese diagnostic criteria. All studies specified the treatment area as the region exhibiting tenderness or induration on the head and neck. Treatment cycles ranged from a minimum of 2 days to a maximum of 1 week, with the number of days per treatment course varied from 5 days to 4 weeks. The diameter of acupuncture needles used varied between 0.3 mm and 1 mm. Of the eight studies specifying needle length, the shortest was 20 mm, and the longest was 40 mm. A total of eight evaluation indices were employed, with total efficacy rate (TER) and visual analogue scale (VAS) being the most frequently used. Statistically, all intervention groups showed more significant results compared to the control groups. Adverse events were reported in only two studies within the intervention group. Overall, the risk of bias assessment for the selected RCTs ranged from 'some concerns' to 'high risk of bias.' Conclusions : This study showed that acupotomy treatments for migraine were effective.

• 대한임상검사과학회지
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• 제55권3호
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• pp.159-166
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• 2023

본 연구에서는 진단검사를 수행하기 위해 가장 중요하다고 할 수 있는 채혈 업무에 대한 임상병리사의 현 상황을 알아보고, 이를 통해 채혈 업무에 대한 행위료의 보험 수가 산정 및 상대 가치점수 부여를 통한 임상병리사의 권익을 향상시키고자 하였다. 부산·울산·경남 지역의 병원에서 근무하고 있는 임상병리사를 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였고, 총 650명의 임상병리사를 대상으로 연구를 수행하였다. 연구결과 1명의 임상병리사가 약 100명의 피검자를 대상으로 채혈 업무를 수행하는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 채혈 실패 건수는 하루에 1건 이상 실패하는 것을 확인할 수 있었고, 통증 호소 환자 및 이를 통한 민원 발생은 1년간 1건 이상 발생하여 검사자의 부담감이 높은 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 사용한 바늘에 채혈자가 찔리는 경우도 1년간 1건 이상 발생되고 있고, 자상으로 인한 감염관리 진료 및 치료를 받은 경우도 약 15% 발생되고 있음을 확인하였다. 채혈 업무로 인한 근골격계 질환 발생 및 정신적 스트레스를 받는 비율은 절반 이상의 인원이 받는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 현재 같은 주사침을 이용한 정맥 및 근육 주사와는 달리 채혈 업무에 대한 행위료는 없는 상황이기 때문에, 이러한 연구 결과를 기반으로 채혈 업무에 대한 행위료 산정 및 상대 가치점수 부여를 통해 임상병리사의 안전 및 권익을 향상시킬 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.95-113
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• 2023

Objectives: To review studies evaluating effects of acupuncture on pain and depressive symptoms in fibromyalgia. Methods: Quantitative evidences (RCTs) were systematically reviewed. Literature were searched for a combination of fibromyalgia and depression (The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, medline (via PubMed), Kmbase, KISS, ScienceON, OASIS, CiNii, CNKI). Quantitative research findings were critically appraised by Cochrane risk of bias (RoB) tool and pooled. Meta-analysis was then conducted using Review Manager (RevMan) 5.4. Results: Eighteen studies were selected. American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria for Fibromyalgia Syndrome was most frequently used as diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. As for outcome measurement, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and Total Effective Rate (TER) were used most commonly. Meta-analysis of ten studies revealed that both Depression and VAS scores of the Acupuncture+Western Medicine group were significantly lower than those of Western Medicine group (Depression: SMD, -0.94, 95% CI, -1.17 to -0.70; VAS: MD, -1.51, 95% CI, -1.83 to -1.19). Also, TERs of both Acupuncture group and Acupuncture+Western Acupuncture+Western Medicine group were significantly higher than those of the Western Medicine group (OR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.29 to 4.41; and OR: 7.40, 95% CI: 3.41 to 16.07). There was no significant difference in Depression or VAS score between the Acupuncture Group and the Western Medicine Group. Conclusions: Acupuncture might be an effective option for pain and depressive symptoms of fibromyalgia when it is combined with Western Medicine treatment. For more accurate results, more types of Korean medicine treatment should be conducted.

• 한방재활의학과학회지
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• 제33권3호
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• pp.135-148
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• 2023

Objectives To investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of post-disaster musculoskeletal pain by reviewing relevant clinical studies. Methods A systematic search was conducted across 10 electronic databases to identify relevant clinical studies on acupuncture treatment for post-disaster musculoskeletal pain until May 2023. The methodological quality was evaluated using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 and Risk of Bias Assessment tool for non-randomized studies tools. Results Six articles were analyzed, including two randomized controlled trials (RCTs), two before-after studies, one qualitative research, and one case series. Overall, acupuncture therapy showed some improvement in pain scale among musculoskeletal pain survivors. However, no significant improvement was observed in the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ-2). Subgroup analysis of participants who completed at least four acupuncture sessions revealed a significant effect on the SFMPQ-2. Additionally, a significant improvement in 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF36P) was observed after 6 months of treatment, but the 2-month treatment period did not show statistically significant effects on SF-36P improvement. The evaluation of the methodological quality of the RCTs identified some concerns of bias. Conclusions The results suggest that acupuncture is effective in alleviating post-disaster musculoskeletal pain. However, considering the limited number of selected studies and the inclusion of subjective evaluation measures, caution should be exercised in interpreting the results. Further large-scale follow-up studies are needed to determine the optimal frequency and duration of acupuncture treatment. Well-designed controlled trials should be conducted to provide more robust evidence regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for post-disaster musculoskeletal pain.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.751-756
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• 2023

목적: 본 연구는 임상에서 많은 빈도로 사용되고 있는 향정신성 약물이 간독성을 발생시킬 수 있음을 임상 예를 통해 보여줌으로써, 한의진료현장에서 이에 대한 경각심과 더불어 약인성간손상에 대한 최신 정보를 제공하고자 한다. 방법: 본 임상 예의 논문은 향정신성 약물을 사용한 후 약인성간독성의 의심과 진단 및 약물의 중단 후 증상과 간손상 효소의 개선과정을 자세히 제시하였다. 결과: 평소 혼합결합조직병으로 한방병원에서 수년 동안 침과 뜸 치료 등으로 잘 유지되고 있던 56세의 여성 환자가, 어느날부터 갑자기 심한 피로감과 전신적 불편편함을 호소하였다. 혈액검사를 시행한 결과, 혈청 AST, ALT가 정상 경계의 2.5-배 이상 증가하였고, 촤근 복용한 향정신성약물에 대한 RUCAM score가 9점으로 약인성간손상 진단에 부합하였다. 이 의심 약물들을 중지한 뒤에 주관적 불편함이 빠르게 개선되었으며, 혈청 간손상 효소 수치 또한 2주 안에 정상화되었다. 결론: 본 증례는 향정신성약물로 생길 수 있는 간손상의 전형적인 임상 예로서, 향정신성약물의 일반화된 상황에 비추어 한의원에서 환자의 진료 과정에서 하나의 중요한 고려사항을 암시한다.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제44권6호
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• pp.1327-1336
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• 2023

This case report presents the effectiveness of Korean medicine in the treatment of occipital neuralgia. The patient with occipital neuralgia was treated with acupuncture. Acupuncture treatment was administered to the occipital nerve area, which is commonly used in occipital nerve blocks by western medicine doctors. The severity of the symptoms was assessed daily using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score of pain. The patient received outpatient treatment a total of 7 times, and only received acupuncture treatment each time. According to the patient, his symptoms decreased by about 90% two days after acupuncture treatment, and the frequency and duration of the symptoms also decreased. Seven days after all acupuncture treatments, the severity of pain was reduced from NRS 6 to NRS 0. The findings of this case report suggest that treatment with Korean medicine can be an effective option for treating occipital neuralgia. Acupuncture can be a good treatment method for occipital neuralgia, along with western drug treatment and occipital nerve block.