• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.28-41
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of moxibustion in infertility with In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer (IVF-ET). Methods: We searched 8 databases (Embase, PubMed, CiNii, CNKI, OASIS, ScienceOn, KMBASE, KISS)to identify eligible studies published before 2021 Oct. We included randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) using moxibustion in infertility with IVF-ET. The methodological quality of each RCT was assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Two RCT studies were eligible in our review. The overall risk of bias was evaluated as unclear. The meta-analysis of 2 trials indicated that favorable results for the use of moxibustion with IVF-ET. Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials suggests that moxibustion with IVF-ET can effect on Infertility patients. However, because of studies included analysis was biased due to unclear risk of bias and unreliable study design, future RCT studies and additional Meta-Analysis are needed to judge the supplementary treatment role of moxibustion in infertility with IVF-ET.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.405-417
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• 2022

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory immune-mediated condition that has been identified as a potentially malignant oral disorder. Various therapies have been proposed for its management as alternative to corticosteroids. However, no definitive treatment has been identified that can result in complete remission or minimal recurrence. Hyaluronic acid has recently been used as an alternative therapy for the management of OLP. This study aimed to systematically review the effectiveness of Hyaluronic acid in the management of symptomatic OLP. Online electronic databases and manual searches were performed for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in English between January 2010 and April 2022. RCTs were identified that compared the efficacy of hyaluronic acid and other interventional therapies at baseline and during follow-up. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess the quality of the included studies. Visual analog scale (VAS) scores, Thongprasom sign scores, lesion size, degree of erythema, clinical severity, and disease severity were assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Seven studies were analyzed. Five studies reported a high risk of bias while the remaining two studies reported an unclear risk of bias. The overall quantitative assessment of size, symptoms, degree of erythema, and sign score in OLP lesions treated with HA was not statistically significant compared to that in the control group (P > 0.05). In addition, subgroup analysis comparing HA with placebo or corticosteroids did not yield statistically significant (P > 0.05) results. Qualitatively, both HA and tacrolimus resulted in an effective reduction in signs and symptoms. Clinical/disease severity index/scores were inconsistent. A high degree of heterogeneity was observed among the included studies. None of the included studies reported the side effects of HA. These findings suggest that corticosteroids, tacrolimus, placebo, and HA could be equally effective in OLP management. The clinical/disease severity index or score reduction cannot be determined with certainty. Thus, OLP can be treated with HA as an alternative therapy. Owing to limited clinical trials on HA, high heterogeneity, and high risk of bias in the included studies, definitive conclusions cannot be derived.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.108-116
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• 2023

Background: Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has recently gained popularity as an adjunct to resuscitation of patients with traumatic shock. However, the effectiveness of REBOA is still debated because of inconsistent indications across centers and the lack of medical records. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of REBOA by analyzing clinical results from a single center. Methods: This study included 96 patients who underwent REBOA between August 2016 and September 2021 at a regional trauma center according to the center's treatment algorithm for traumatic shock. Medical records, including the time of the decision to conduct the REBOA procedure, time of operation, type of aortic occlusion, and clinical outcomes, were collected prospectively and analyzed retrospectively. Patients were classified by REBOA protocol (group 1, 2, or 3) and survival status (survivor or non-survivor) for analysis. Results: The overall success rate of the procedure was 97.9%, and the survival rate was 32.6%. In survivors, blood pressure was higher than in non-survivors both before the REBOA procedure (p=0.002) and after aortic occlusion (p=0.03). The total aortic occlusion time was significantly shorter (p=0.001) and the proportion of partial aortic occlusion was significantly higher (p=0.014) among the survivors. The non-survivors had more acidosis (p<0.001) and higher lactate concentrations (p<0.001) than the survivors. Conclusion: REBOA may be a feasible bridge therapy for resuscitation of patients with traumatic shock. Prompt and accurate decision-making to perform REBOA followed by damage control surgery could improve survival rates and clinical outcomes.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.403-420
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• 2023

Objectives: This study investigated the effectiveness of herbal medicine for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) based on recent clinical studies. Methods: Studies were searched through four databases. Clinical research studies on herbal medicine treatment for GAD patients were included. The studies were analyzed according to study design, diagnostic criteria, population, and intervention. A risk of bias assessment was performed to assess the quality of the included randomized controlled trials (RCT). If the intervention applied to the treatment and control groups was the same and two or more studies were reporting the same items as outcome indicators, a meta-analysis was performed. Results: A total of 19 studies, including 12 RCTs were selected. The most common pattern identification was 'Phlegm fire disturbing upward' (痰熱上擾), and the most used herb for therapeutic purposes was 'Rhizome of Poria cocos' (茯苓). Meta-analysis results of three studies showed that there were no significant differences in effectiveness between the herbal medicine intervention and the Western medicine intervention. Meta-analysis results of five studies showed that the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale was significantly reduced in the case of herbal medicine intervention compared to Western medicine intervention. Conclusions: The results of our study demonstrated that herbal medicine treatment for GAD is effective in alleviating anxiety symptoms and chief symptoms of GAD. However, this study has several limitations; there was a lack of placebo-controlled RCT and an absence of objective diagnostic criteria in case reports. Therefore, further well-designed clinical studies, conducted based on the results of this study, are recommended.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 2024

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a common musculoskeletal disorder worldwide, with a lifetime prevalence of up to 80%. Among nonsurgical treatments for chronic LBP, Korean medicine treatments are highly preferred, and pharmacopuncture therapy combining acupuncture and herbal medicine is widely used. However, no evidence-based study has focused on the use of various types of pharmacopuncture. Methods: The pragmatic randomized controlled clinical trial will include 44 participants; recruitment will start in July 2023. All participants will receive integrated Korean medicine treatment including acupuncture, cupping, and infrared therapy, and the intervention group will also receive pharmacopuncture. After 16 treatment sessions, twice a week for 8 weeks, follow-up assessments will be performed at week 9. As a pragmatic randomized controlled clinical protocol, the type, dose, and acupoints of acupuncture and pharmacopuncture are not determined in advance but are selected and recorded according to the clinical judgment of the Korean medicine doctor. Results: The primary outcome will be measured using a visual analog scale score, and the secondary outcomes include the Oswestry disability index, patient global impression of change, no worse than mild pain, and range of motion. Safety will be assessed by examining participants' self-reported adverse events and vital signs and conducting blood tests before and after the test. Conclusion: This study aims to provide clinical evidence of the effectiveness and safety of pharmacopuncture for chronic LBP.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.376-387
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• 2023

Purpose: Peri-implantitis (PI) is an inflammatory condition associated with the destruction of bone tissue around a dental implant, and diode lasers can be used to treat this disease. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 940-nm diode laser for the nonsurgical treatment of PI. Methods: Twenty patients (8 women and 12 men) were enrolled in a split-mouth randomized controlled study. In the control group (CG), mechanical debridement with titanium curettes accompanied by airflow was performed around the implants. The test group (TG) was treated similarly, but with the use of a diode laser. Clinical measurements (plaque index, gingival index [GI], probing pocket depth [PPD], bleeding on probing [BOP], clinical attachment level, and interleukin-1β [IL-1β] in the peri-implant crevicular fluid) were evaluated and recorded at baseline and 3 months. IL-1β levels were determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Results: The symptoms were alleviated in both groups at 3 months as assessed through clinical measurements. GI, BOP, and PPD were significantly lower in the TG than in the CG (P<0.05). The IL-1β level increased post-treatment in both groups, but this increase was only statistically significant (P<0.05) in the CG. Conclusions: The diode laser enabled improvements in clinical parameters in the periimplant tissue. However, it did not reduce IL-1β levels after treatment. Further studies about the use of diode lasers in the treatment of PI will be necessary to evaluate the effects of diode lasers in PI treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.199-215
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• 1996

In Korea, the majority of hospital dietitians expend most of their time performing food management related activities, and only a few carry out nutrition care activities in full-time. This study was designed to measure productivity of the clinical nutrition team and assess the role of clinical dietitians in the only 2200-bed teaching hospital in Korea. Six full-time clinical dietitians collected time data for four weeks according to the nutrition care activities outlined. Three clinical dietitians assigned to 7 units recorded how often physicians implemented their recommendations for two months. Two kinds of survey questionaire were developed and sent to the patients and the health care team. The followings are a summary of the results. 1. The clinical nutrition team of 6 full-time dietitians expended 75% of their time performing patient care activities, 20% in non-patient care activities and 5% in delay and transit. 2. Each clinical dietitian assigned to the units carried out 56 patient care activities on daily basis. 3. The average time required for the clinical nutrition services was 60.2 minutes for outpatient counseling, 89 minutes for inpatient counseling, 72.5 minutes for nutrition management, 95 minutes for malnutrition consult and 121 minutes for dysphagia diet management. 4. Physicians' implementation of clinical dietitians' recommendations was 98.5%. 5. Most physicians and nurses viewed the clinical dietitians on the units assertive, contributing to the quality improvement of medical services, and helpful to the patients as well as the health care team. 6. Most patients viewed the clinical dietitians on the units considerate, attentive and helpful. Based on these results, it is suggested that (1) daily meal round and nutrition care monitoring are effective tools for nutrition intervention in the hospital setting. (2) unit assignment of clinical dietitians enhances the patients' satisfaction in the nutrition services provided as well as the perceptions of health care team on clinical dietitian's expertise.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.247-259
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• 2020

Objectives: This review aims to investigate clinical studies related to bee venom pharmacopuncture for cancer patients and to analyze the research trend for further study. Methods: We searched for clinical studies using bee venom pharmacopuncture therapy on patients with cancer through the electronic databases including Pubmed, Cochrane library, OASIS, KISS, NDSL, and KMBASE. There was no restriction on language and publication date, and after selection/exclusion process, the study design, target disease, intervention details including acupoints, treatment frequency and period, outcomes, study results and adverse events were extracted. Results: Thirteen clinical studies were finally selected. There were a randomized controlled trial RCT about the effect of sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture on cancer-related pain, and three case series about chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. In case reports, there were nine studies about oligodendroglioma, plexiform neurofibroma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, urachal adenocarcinoma, malignant melanoma, and atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. The bee venom therapy affected the improvement of outcomes such as symptoms, quality of life, tumor response, and lab findings. Conclusions: The present study found that bee venom therapy is applicable to the treatment of cancer patients, and showed some effect on various symptoms. However, due to insufficient number and quality of studies, well designed and high-quality clinical trials are necessary to confirm the effectiveness and safety of bee venom pharmacopuncture therapy in patients with cancer.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.1308-1314
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• 2006

Purpose. The purposes of this study were to develop a PBL program for continuing nurse education and to evaluate the program after its implementation. Methods. The PBL program was developed in the core cardio-pulmonary nursing concepts through a collaborative approach with a nursing school and a hospital. The PBL packages with simulation on ACLS were implemented to 40 clinical nurses. The entire PBL program consisted of six 3-hour weekly classes and was evaluated by the participants' subjective responses. Results. Two PBL packages in cardio-pulmonary system including clinical cases and tutorial guidelines were developed. The 57.5 % of the participants responded positively about the use of PBL as continuing nurse education in terms of self-motivated and cooperative learning, whereas 20.0% of the participants answered that the PBL method was not suitable for clinical nurses. Some modifications were suggested in grouping participants and program contents for PBL. Conclusion. The PBL method could be utilized to promote nurses' clinical competencies as well as self-learning abilities. Further research is needed in the implementation strategies of PBL-based continuing education in order to improve its effectiveness.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.22-31
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• 2016

Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate recent clinical studies on the effect of acupuncture for urticaria worldwide. Methods Based on the PubMed search with the key search terms of 'urticaria, acupuncture', dated between 2002 to 2015, a total of 9 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 3 case series, and 2 case reports have been found, and were analyzed. Results and conclusions 1. The most commonly used acupoints were Quchi (LI 11), Xuehai (SP 10), Zusanli (ST 36), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Dazhui (GV 14). 2. The most commonly used meridians were The Ren Channel, The Du Channel and The Gall Bladder Meridian of Foot-Shaoyang. 3. The treatment period varied from 12 days to 3 months. 4. Acupuncture treatment found to be significantly more or equally effective than the western medicine. 5. More clinical studies are needed to prove a true effectiveness of the acupuncture for urticaria. In case of laboratory tests, serum immunoglobulin E (IgE), interleukin 4 (IL-4) and Helicobacter pylori negative rate might be helpful.