• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.61-68
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• 2006

Objectives : The Purpose of this report is to examine the effect of Remote Acupuncture Point Needling in the Low Back Pain patient of Acute Stage. Methods : From October 1st 2005 to May 31th 2006, 30 cases of low back pain patients at acute stage were divided into 2 groups; one group(control group) took near acupuncture point needling, and the other group(test group) took near acupuncture point needling with remote acupuncture point needling. For evaluating change of pain, Visual Analog Scale(VAS) was checked before and after Treatment. Results : Both acupuncture therapy showed good effect on low back pain of acute stage. And test group showed better effect on decreasing pain than control group. It was proved by the difference between VAS checked before treatment and what checked after treatment. But it was not significant statistically. Conclusion : Near acupuncture point needling and remote acupuncture point needling can be recommended as a useful therapy to treat low back pain of acute stage.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 2007

Objectives : This study was performed to evaluate a recent status of acupunctural treatment in pediatric practice. Methods: 660,893 children, who visited HAMSOA oriental clinic from January 2004 to December 2005 was screened to decide the number treated with acupuncture, the diagnosis and the type of acupuncture. In addition, the questionnaire for clinician about acupuncture therapy was performed and analysed to understand their applications. Results: The number treated with acupuncture was 69,797, 10.56%. Classified with ages, 3 months and below was 729 (1.7%), 1 year - 3 months was 5,035 (11.80%), 2 year - 1 year was 6,875 (16.10%), 3 year - 2 year was 5,540 (12.98%), 6 year - 3 year was 12.636 (31.94%) and 6 year and above was 10,876 (25.48%). The most frequent diagnosis taken acupuncture was atopic dermatitis (14.93%) and the next was rhinitis (13.80%). The most frequent type of acupuncture was laser acupuncture. The clinicians answered questionnaire agreed that acupuncture therapy is effective for pediatric disease treatment and fear about acupuncture of young patients was the most important obstacle. Conclusion : The acupuncture therapy in pediatric practice is not so frequent treatment but in increasing stage. Futhermore, in-depth research about acupuncture therapy in pediatrics is demanded.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2000

Chronic headache is one of the most common symptoms of outpatients. There are many approaches to treat chronic headache, but it is difficult to be resolved completely. So analgesics-addicted patients are increased in numbers. Acupuncture and ear-acupuncture have been used for relief headache. But it is not sufficient to compare the effect of acupuncture on several chronic headache groups. Thus we investigate the effect of acupuncture and ear-acupuncture on several chronic headache groups and analgesics-abused groups. We researched 36 patients who were treated at Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Kyung Hee Medical Center from August 1998 to July 1999. The chronic headache patients were classified into tension-type headache group, migraine group and unclassified headache group by Guide of IHS. Each group was treated with acupuncture and ear-acupuncture. The effect was assessed through questionnaires and self-rating headache index.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.27-42
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• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of acupuncture and electro-acupuncture at $LR_3$ on intestinal motility in rat. Methods : We made over-activated state of intestinal motility with carbachol and suppressed state of intestinal motility with loperamide in rat and carried out needle retention acupuncture and high frequency electro-acupuncture at $LR_3$ in rat devided into pre-treatment group and post-treatment group. The charcoal travel rate was measured to evaluate the intestinal motility. Results : 1. High frequency electro-acupuncture at $LR_3$ have significant influences on intestinal motility of rat in normal state. 2. Pre-treatment of needle retention acupuncture, high frequency electro-acupuncture significantly decreased intestinal motility in rat which over-activated with carbachol. 3. Post-treatment of high frequency electro-acupuncture significantly increased intestinal motility in rat which suppressed with loperamide. Conclusions : These results suggest that acupuncture and electro-acupuncture at $LR_3$ are effective on intestinal motility in rat.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.3 s.67
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• pp.222-226
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• 2006

Objective: The aim of this study was to introduce newly developed cooperation group standards of acupuncture needles for single use and to make a contribution to the future development of Korean Industrial Standards (KS) of acupuncture needles for single use. Results and Conclusion: Quality assurance and quality control with high safety profile is one of the most critical issues in medical device manufacturing. Up to now, proper attention has not been paid to this issue with respect to acupuncture needles for single use and their related devices. We, therefore, organized a committee to make guidelines to produce an acupuncture needle with high quality and safety. In the committee, we reviewed the topic from an historical viewpoint, and investigated the current situation of the standardization of acupuncture needles in other developed countries. Finally, we developed the cooperation group standards in advance of development of KS on the acupuncture needles for single use. The standards are composed of 12 sections describing: Scope, Normative references, Definitions, Materials, Configuration, Appearance and Cleanliness, Quality, Sterilization and Safety, Processing of Surface and Coating Material, Test, Packaging, and Labeling. We hope that the standards would be useful guidelines to produce high quality acupuncture needles and play an important role in the development of KS in the future.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.211-219
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• 2019

This review analyzed randomized controlled trials and case reports to identify the effectiveness, and level of evidence showing that acupuncture treatment aids the recovery of patients with tennis elbow. A literature search was performed between $1^{st}$ to $10^{th}$ September, 2019 which used PubMed, the Cochrane library, the Korean databases Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean Studies Information Service System to retrieve Korean and international studies. Amongst the 243 articles retrieved there were 9 randomized controlled trials and 18 case reports. The level of evidence for the recovery of patients with tennis elbow, for efficacy and safety of acupuncture was low. It was observed that the studies had a high risk of bias, missing acupuncture details, multiple combinations of treatments rather than a single treatment, insufficient indicators of assessment, and lacked robustness. Compliance with international standards such as using consolidated standards of reporting trials, will improve the quality of evidence.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.96-106
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• 2024

This study aimed to provide the basis of treatment effects by analyzing randomized control trials (RCTs) on the use of thread embedding acupuncture (TEA) for low back pain that were published between February 2018 and July 2023. In total, 2,865 articles were retrieved from international and Korean databases. Nine of these articles were selected and evaluated based on the following categories: (1) year of publication, (2) type of disease, (3) sample size, (4) treatment interventions, (5) treatment frequency and duration, (6) insertion point and depth of thread embedding, (7) types and sizes of threads and needles, (8) evaluation indexes, (9) treatment outcomes, and (10) side effects. The risk of bias in RCTs was also assessed. This study also emphasizes the importance of further research on TEA for clinical treatment and the use of objective approaches. Furthermore, detailed method descriptions and results are important in determining the efficacy of TEA.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.149-162
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• 2004

Quality assurance with high safety profile is one of the most critical issues to medical device manufacturing. In general, this issue was not paid proper attention with respect to acupuncture needle and its related devices. Acupuncture needles are manufactured through various standards ranging from purely hand-made, partially hand-made and partially machine-made, to fully machine-made mainly in China, Korea, and Japan. There is a large difference in quality between needles from different manufacturers. In order to provide a standard manufacturing guideline, it seems necessary to make a Korean Industrial standard (KS). The authors review this topic from an historical view point, investigate the current situation of the standardization of acupuncture needles in other developed countries, and inspect the general procedure to establish a KS in Korea in order to suggest a KS for acupuncture needles.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.23-30
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• 2010

Objectives : This study was undertaken in order to establish the composite principles of fomulas through the of Sa-am acupuncture therapy and the theory of sovereign, minister, assistant and courier. Methods : We analyzed the formula construction of Sa-am acupuncture therapy, and applied the theory of sovereign, minister, assistant and courier that was referred to in the preface of "Essential Rhymes on Acupuncture and Moxibustion by Master Sa-am" to the analysis of formula construction. Results & Conclusions : 1. Sa-am acupuncture therapy was acupuncture and moxibustion method that inherited and developed progress contents of Chinese traditional acupuncture and moxibustion. 2. The theory of sovereign, minister, assistant and courier was based on the idea that acupuncture and herbal medicine had the same origins. 3. Formula constructions of Sa-am acupuncture therapy were formed complicatedly, but reflected the theory of sovereign, minister, assistant and courier. 4. The supplementing acupuncture point that is Chunbu-point in other merdian became Sovereign, the draining acupuncture point that is Chunbu-point in other merdian became Minister, and the supplementing and draining acupuncture points in same merdian became Assistant and Courier that mean leading merdian points.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.2 s.62
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• pp.166-175
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• 2005

Objecitve: To present criteria for acupuncture standardization, which will improve the quality of acupuncture and secure safety, through studies of the biocompatibility of acupuncture needles. Methods: Acupuncture needles distributed in Korea were studied. Acute poisonous tests and pyrogenicity materials tests were executed to study the biocompatibility of acupuncture needles. Results & Conclusions: All 3 brands of acupuncture needles commonly distributed in Korea were found suitable for medical use, through acute poisonous tests and pyrogenicity materials tests. However, the medical instrument standards of the Korea Food and Drug Administration for acupuncture lack criteria concerning acute poisonous tests and pyrogenicity materials tests. The criteria for these tests should be standardized in order to secure the biocompatibility of acupuncture needles.