• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.9-18
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• 2020

Objectives This study verified the clinical effectiveness of Qigong exercise therapy for individuals with hypertension. Methods Ten electronic databases were used for information retrieval. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using Qigong exercise therapy as a treatment for hypertension were included in this study. Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the methodological quality of each RCT. Results After a thorough review, six RCTs were deemed eligible. These studies were divided into two groups: Qigong vs. no intervention and Qigong plus anti-hypertensive drug vs. anti-hypertensive drug alone. Among the six RCTs, four studies were Qigong vs. no intervention, and two studies were Qigong plus anti-hypertensive drug vs. anti-hypertensive drug alone. The meta-analysis demonstrated that adding Qigong exercise to anti-hypertensive drug treatment lowers diastolic blood pressure more than the anti-hypertensive drug alone. Conclusions Although Qigong exercise is not widely used in the Korean medical field, the results of this study demonstrated the necessity of exercise while controlling hypertension. However, the number of included studies was small, with their high risk of bias. In conclusion, although it is difficult to determine whether Qigong exercise lowers blood pressure in hypertensive patients, exercise including Qigong must be parallel with the intake of anti-hypertensive drugs.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.285-297
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• 2023

Objectives: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess and compare the effectiveness of manual therapy in alleviating infant crying, a common symptom of nocturnal crying (NC) and infantile colic (IC). Methods: Total effective rate, crying time and adverse events were used as outcome indicators. To assess the quality, the risk of bias was determined for each study by two authors, using the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool. RevMan 5.0 was used for data analysis. A total of 98 articles were identified from 6 electronic databases. Results: Among them, twenty-seven studies which included 13 NC and 14 IC were included. Meta-analysis showed favorable effects tuina therapy on total effective rate (TER) of NC (RR: 1.20 [95% CI 1.05 to 1.37], p = 0.007), chiropractic therapy on crying time change of IC (SMD: -0.83 [95% CI -1.61 to -0.06], p = 0.04) and massage on total crying time of IC (SMD: -0.86 [95% CI -1.09 to -0.63], p < 0.00001). This systematic review compares different manual therapies for the treatment of NC and IC. While tuina, chiropractic, and massage show results in alleviating symptoms, the overall evidence remains limited due to the low quality and heterogeneity of the included studies. Conclusion: Therefore, further high-quality research with unified control groups is needed to establish manual therapy as a recommended treatment option for NC and IC. Protocol registration number is CRD42022348143 01/08/2022.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.301-313
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• 2024

Objective: The current body of evidence lacks clarity regarding the comparative efficacy and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) as minimally invasive treatments for benign thyroid nodules. The primary objective of this study is to clarify these concerns. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted using the Cochrane Library, Scopus, Europe PMC, and Medline databases until October 10th, 2023, using a combination of relevant keywords. This study incorporated literature that compared RFA and MWA for benign thyroid nodules. The primary outcome was the volume reduction ratio (VRR) from baseline to follow-up. Secondary outcomes were symptom score, cosmetic score, ablation time, major complications rate, hemorrhage, hoarseness, skin burn, cough, and sympathetic nerve injury. We used Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies - of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. We employed random effects models to analyze the standardized mean difference (SMD) and odds ratio for the presentation of outcomes. Results: Nine studies with 2707 nodules were included. The results of our meta-analysis indicated similar efficacy between RFA and MWA in terms of VRR during the 1 (SMD 0.06; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.13 to 0.26; P = 0.52) and 3 (SMD 0.11; 95% CI: -0.03 to 0.25; P = 0.12) months of follow-up. VRR was significantly higher in RFA than in MWA at the 6 (SMD 0.25; 95% CI: 0.06-0.43; P = 0.008) and 12 month of follow-up (SMD 0.38; 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.59; P < 0.001). There were no significant differences between RFA and MWA in symptom scores, cosmetic scores, or the incidence of complications, including hemorrhage, hoarseness, skin burn, cough, and sympathetic nerve injury. Conclusion: RFA showed a higher VRR than MWA at 6 and 12-month follow-ups, with a comparable safety profile.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.78-94
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to review the trends of clinical trials of traditional herbal medicine Gyejibongnyeong-hwan for chronic pelvic inflammatory disease in CNKI. Methods: We searched relevant studies using Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Data retrieval was carried out by December 20^th, 2021. We analyzed characteristics of study subjects, treatment period, composition of prescription, outcome and adverse event of selected studies and the risk of bias was assessed by using Cochrane's risk of bias tool. Results: Among the total 988 studies, 10 studies met the inclusion criteria. All of the studies were randomized controlled studies and written in Chinese. In all studies, Gyejibongnyeong-hwan was effective in improving chronic pelvic inflammatory disease. Conclusions: This study suggests that Gyejibongnyeong-hwan can be effective in treating chronic pelvic inflammatory disease compared to antibiotics treatment. Further large and well-established randomized placebo controlled trials will be needed.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2015

Objectives : To determine the effectiveness of Chuna manual therapy for headache Methods : We searched 6 electronic databases(Pubmed, CAJ, Oasis, RISS, DBPIA, KoreanTK) and 2 journals up to Oct 2015. We included randomized controlled trials(RCTs) using Chuna manual therapy for headache. The methodological quality of each RCT was assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results : 9 RCT studies were eligible in our review. The meta-analysis of 6 studies showed favorable results for the use of Chuna manual therapy. High risk of bias were observed in all studies. Conclusions : Although there are favorable results with meta-analysis, our systematic review arehighly dependent on the single source of Chinese electrical database, CAJ. Now limited evidence is available tosupport Chuna manual therapy for headache and further well-designed RCTs should be encouraged.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.85-96
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• 2017

Objectives To summarize and evaluate the efficacy of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCHM) treatment for antibiotic associated diarrhea (AAD). Methods Eight electronic databases were searched from their inception to August 2017. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy of TCHM treatment for AAD were included. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool. Data analysis was performed using RevMan software version 5.3. Results Seventeen RCTs involving 1138 patients with AAD were included for qualitative synthesis. TCHM treatment improved total effective rate (TER). However, the results that TER in experimental group was significantly higher than in control group were different between the included studies. TCHM enema treatment improved TER, but not significantly higher than control group. The most frequently used herbal formulas were Gamiwekwanjeon, Gamiinsampaedoksan, and Samryungbaekchulsan. The most frequently used TCHMs were Atractylodes macrocephala (Bai Zhu), Dioscorea batatas (Shan Yao). Within the studies documenting the adverse events, no serious adverse events associated with TCHM treatment were observed. Conclusions Evidence of TCHM treatment efficacy for AAD is encouraging, but not conclusive, because of the low methodological qualities, diversity of TCHM treatment prescriptions. Further well-designed RCTs with rigorous randomization and blinding method are needed to confirm these results.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.649-662
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture on acute pancreatitis (AP). Method: The search engines that were used included PubMed, CNKI, OASIS, NDSL, the Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, and J-STAGE. The search period was from the creation of the search engine to May 6, 2019; there were no language limitations. Extractions and selections from the literation were made by two authors. The study included randomized controlled trials with electroacupuncture for patients with acute pancreatitis. Cochrane's risk of bias (RoB) was used as the methodological quality assessment scale. Results: Nine studies were finally selected. It was observed that using electroacupuncture with general Western medicine treatment for AP was more effective than using only general Western medicine treatment. Although most of the studies showed a high risk of bias, there were significant differences among the indicators. Conclusion: The electroacupuncture treatment with Western medicine may be more effective in reducing symptoms of AP than Western medicine alone. However, due to the limitations of the research design, it was not enough to obtain reliable information. As a result, high quality research will be additionally required.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.61-78
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• 2023

Objectives This systematic review aimed to analyze the effectiveness, safety and the reporting quality of scalp acupuncture (SA) treatment for musculoskeletal disease (MSD). Methods Eleven databases were systematically searched up to July 12th 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of SA treatment for MSD were selected manually by the inclusion criteria. The risk of bias of RCTs was assessed using the Cochrane's Risk of Bias (RoB) 1.0 and the reporting quality of studies was evaluated using Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) 2010 statement and Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) 2010 checklist. Results Ten clinical studies were met the inclusion criteria. Most of studies reported SA treatment significantly alleviated pain and functional disability of MSD patients and no serious adverse effects were reported. In RoB assessment, blinding of participants and personnel was found to have the highest RoB and allocation concealment was found to have the most unclear RoB. In CONSORT 2010 statement evaluation, all studies reported 15.3 items (41.4%) on average. In STRICTA 2010 checklist evaluation, all studies reported 11.2 items (65.9%) on average. Conclusions The systematic review found that SA treatment may alleviate pain and functional disability of MSD patients and have little severe adverse effect. The reporting quality of included studies was mainly low, therefore, further studies with strict adherence to the CONSORT and STRICTA checklist should be encouraged.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.174-186
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of virtual reality used in maternal-child nursing clinical practicums on nursing students' competencies through a systematic review. Methods: The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed papers in English or Korean presenting analytic studies of maternal-child nursing practicums using virtual reality. An electronic literature search of the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, PubMed, and Research Information Sharing System databases was performed using combinations of the keywords "nursing student," "virtual reality," "augmented reality," "mixed reality," and "virtual simulation" from February 4 to 15, 2022. Quality appraisal was performed using the RoB 2 and ROBINS-I tools for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs, respectively. Results: Of the seven articles identified, the RCT study (n=1) was deemed to have a high risk of bias, with some items indeterminable due to a lack of reported details. Most of the non-RCT studies (n=6) had a moderate or serious risk of bias related to selection and measurement issues. Clinical education using virtual reality had positive effects on knowledge, skills, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and needs improvement; however, it did not affect critical thinking or self-directed learning. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that using virtual reality for maternal-child nursing clinical practicums had educational effects on a variety of students' competencies. Considering the challenges of providing direct care in clinical practicums, virtual reality can be a viable tool that supplements maternal-child nursing experience. Greater rigor and fuller reporting of study details are required for future research.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.36-55
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• 2020

Objectives: The present study is carried out to review the efficacy of Korean, Oriental medicine on premenstrual syndrome. Methods: We searched for 7 internet worldwide databases in order to find the studies with the keywords of 'premenstrual syndrome', 'premenstrual syndrome & Oriental medicine', 'premenstrual syndrome & traditional Chinese medicine' and 'premenstrual syndrome & herbal medicine' from 2009 to 2019. after selecting studies based on own criteria, total 8 studies are finally included. the studies were assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias criteria and reviewed systematically. Results: After intervention, cured patient rate in test groups in all of studies were significantly higher than rate in control group. there were significant decrease in headache, anorexia, dry mouth, breast mass, mastodynia, agitation, irascibility, edema, dizziness, fever, anhedonia, depression, inability to sleep, profuse dreaming with herbal medicinal intervention. 3 of those studies checked hormonal level. Estradiol (E2) and Progesteron (P) changed significantly in 2 of studies. Prolactin (PRL) in 1 study decreased significantly. FSH (Follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (Luteinizing hormone) had no significant decrease in 1 study. Conclusions: This review suggests that herbal medicine on premenstrual syndrome is effective without serious adverse effects. however, since unclear risk of bias, the result of this study should be considered carefully. further clinical trials should be carried out in order to academical clinical progress regarding treatment of premenstrual syndrome.