• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.37-49
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• 2022

Objectives The purpose of this study is to present evidence by analyzing the research trends in acupuncture treatment in the last 10 years for thromboangiitis obliterans. Methods Randomized controlled trials about acupuncture on thromboangiitis obliterans were searched China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), ScienceON, Koreanstudies Information Service System (KISS) and Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) from January 1, 2011 to November 13, 2021. Only randomized controlled trials were selected and we assessed the risk of bias (RoB) according to the revised Cochrane RoB2 criteria. Results A total of 5 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected in this review and all were conducted in China. A total of 326 participants were in 5 RCTs. SP10, ST36, GB34 was the most commonly used treatment point. There were four types of acupuncture used: manual acupuncture, embedding acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, electroacupuncture. The most commonly used indicator for evaluation was the total efficacy rate, and all five studies were significantly higher. Conclusions All selected studies showed the group treated with acupuncture treatments on thromboangiitis obliterans were statistically more effective than the control group. However, the number of studies is too small and the interpretation of the results is limited due to the inclusion of subjective evaluation. So more objective and systematic studies should be conducted continuously.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.97-105
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• 2022

Background: Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) has been widely used in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases. Epidural injection of steroids can reduce the incidence and duration of postoperative pain in a short period of time. Although steroids are widely believed to reduce the effect of surgical trauma, the observation indicators are not uniform, especially the long-term effects, so the problem remains controversial. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of epidural steroids following PTED. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Database from 1980 to June 2021 to identify randomized and non-randomized controlled trials comparing epidural steroids and saline alone following PTED. The primary outcomes included postoperative pain at least 6 months as assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). The secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay and the time of return to work. Results: A total of 451 patients were included in three randomized and two non-randomized controlled trials. The primary outcomes, including VAS and ODI scores, did not differ significantly between epidural steroids following PTED and saline alone. There were no significant intergroup differences in length of hospital stay. Epidural steroids were shown to be superior in terms of the time to return to work (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Intraoperative epidural steroids did not provide significant benefits, leg pain control, improvement in ODI scores, and length of stay in the hospital, but it can enable the patient to return to work faster.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.309-317
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• 2020

Objective: One of the treatment strategies for controlling chronic pain and preventing disability is patient education. Pain neuroscience education (PNE) has been proven to be effective in explaining the biological and physiological processes associated with pain experiences to patients. The purpose of this review is to investigate the effectiveness of PNE for kinesiophobia such as avoidance response in patients with chronic pain. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PEDro, and the Cochrane Central Register of controlled trials databases were searched through November 2020 and included a randomized controlled trials evaluating kinesiophobia in musculoskeletal patients with chronic pain. In 8 randomized controlled trial studies, 'Cochrane's risk of bias (RoB) tool was used for qualitative analysis, and results of post-intervention were analyzed through RevMan 5.4 for quantitative analysis. Results: For this review, 8 randomized controlled trials of 369 patients with chronic pain were selected for PNE. A systematic review and meta-analysis also included 8 randomized controlled trials. The effect on kinesiophobia was more effective than the control group (-0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.22 to -0.51; heterogeneity [χ²=21.18, df=7, I²=67%]; overall effect [Z=4.80]). In addition, the effect on pain was more effective than the control group (-0.53; 95% CI, -1.05 to -0.01; heterogeneity [χ²=47.42, df=7, I²=85%]; overall effect [Z=2.01]). Conclusions: The results of this review suggest that PNE and combined PNE have a positive effect on the improvement of pain and kinesiophobia in patients with chronic pain.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.389-400
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• 2022

Objectives: Depression is a highly prevalent disease, and the market for antidepressant drugs continues to grow at a steady rate. Although current antidepressants are reported to be effective, because of their low remission rate and side effects, new antidepressants are needed. The use of Banhahubak-tang (BHT) to treat the symptoms of depression is supported by experimental evidence. The proposed study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of BHT in treating depression. Methods: A randomized, waitlist-controlled, parallel clinical trial will be conducted to assess the efficacy of BHT in depression. A total of 84 participants with depression will be randomized into the intervention group or waitlist-control group at a 1:1 ratio. Patients in the intervention group will be administered BHT three times a day for four weeks and followed up for four more weeks after therapy completion. Patients in the waitlist-control group will undergo the same intervention and follow-up after a four-week waiting period. The primary outcome is change in the Korean version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (K-HDRS) scores for major depressive disorders after four weeks. The secondary outcomes include scores on the K-HDRS, Korean Symptom Check List 95 (KSCL-95), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Korean version (STAI-K), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-Korean version (STAXI-K), and the Instrument on Pattern Identifications for Depression and EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D). Conclusions: This trial will provide high-quality clinical evidence of the efficacy and safety of BHT in the management of depression.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.75-86
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• 2022

Objectives The purpose of the study is to review the trend of clinical trials conducted in China with oral herbal medicine treatment on childhood primary hyperhidrosis. Methods We searched the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with oral herbal medicine treatment on childhood primary hyperhidrosis from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). The demographic data, duration of illness, intervention, treatment period, outcome and composition of herbal medicine were analyzed for this study. Results A total of five RCTs were selected and analyzed. The effectiveness of the oral administration of herbal medicines on childhood primary hyperhidrosis was found to be significant. In one study, there was no statistical difference between the treatment group and the control group when curative effect was evaluated two weeks after the intervention; however, the treatment group showed a statistically higher curative effect than the control group at one and two months after intervention, and also one month after the intervention was terminated. Conclusions Oral herbal medicine has been shown to be an effective treatment for childhood primary hyperhidrosis, and it takes at least one month for the administered oral herbal medicines to take effect. However, further well-designed large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of oral herbal medicines in childhood primary hyperhidrosis.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.96-104
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• 2022

This study aimed to examine the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome by reviewing published randomized controlled trials. Among the 186 studies retrieved from 7 online databases (PubMed, Cochrane library, CNKI, NDSL, RISS, OASIS, KMbase) on October 29, 2021, 4 studies were selected according to the inclusion, exclusion criteria, and were evaluated using risk of bias. Control groups for electroacupuncture were wearing a splint at night, traditional acupuncture, and medication. Methods such as total effective, functional status scale, symptom severity scale, electromyography, tip pinch strength, visual analogue scale, numeric rating scale, and ultrasound were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect. Electroacupuncture was reported to have significant treatment results compared with the control group in methods such as total effectiveness, electromyography, and tip pinch strength. However, the quality of the studies (using risk of bias) does not allow reliable conclusions to be made. Many high quality (low risk of bias) randomized controlled trials are needed to examine the efficacy of electroacupuncture treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1238-1254
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Weight loss via a mobile application (App) or a paper-based diary (Paper) may confer favorable metabolic and anthropometric changes. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A randomized parallel trial was conducted among 57 adults whose body mass indices (BMIs) were 25 kg/m² or greater. Participants randomly assigned to either the App group (n = 30) or the Paper group (n = 27) were advised to record their foods and supplements through App or Paper during the 12-week intervention period. Relative changes of anthropometries and biomarker levels were compared between the 2 intervention groups. Untargeted metabolic profiling was identified to discriminate metabolic profiles. RESULTS: Out of the 57 participants, 54 participants completed the trial. Changes in body weight and BMI were not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.11). However, body fat and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels increased in the App group but decreased in the Paper group, and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.03 for body fat and 0.02 for LDL-cholesterol). In the metabolomics analysis, decreases in methylglyoxal and (S)-malate in pyruvate metabolism and phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) in linoleic acid metabolism from pre- to post-intervention were observed in the Paper group. CONCLUSIONS: In the 12-week randomized parallel trial of weight loss through a App or a Paper, we found no significant difference in change in BMI or weight between the App and Paper groups, but improvement in body fatness and LDL-cholesterol levels only in the Paper group under the circumstances with minimal contact by dietitians or health care providers.

• 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 Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2011

Plane detection is very important information for mission-critical of robot in 3D environment. A representative method of plane detection is Hough-transformation. Hough-transformation is robust to noise and makes the accurate plane detection possible. But it demands excessive memory and takes too much processing time. Iterative randomized Hough-transformation has been proposed to overcome these shortcomings. This method doesn't vote all data. It votes only one value of the randomly selected data into the Hough parameter space. This value calculated the value of the parameter of the shape that we want to extract. In Hough parameters space, it is possible to detect accurate plane through detection of repetitive maximum value. A common problem in these methods is that it requires too much computational cost and large number of memory space to find the distribution of mixed multiple planes in parameter space. In this paper, we detect multiple planes only via data sampling using Self Organizing Map method. It does not use conventional methods that include transforming to Hough parameter space, voting and repetitive plane extraction. And it improves the reliability of plane detection through division area searching and planarity evaluation. The proposed method is more accurate and faster than the conventional methods which is demonstrated the experiments in various conditions.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.459-468
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Wheel of Wellness counseling on wellness lifestyle, depression, and health-related quality of life in community dwelling elderly people. Methods: A parallel, randomized controlled, open label, trial was conducted. Ninety-three elderly people in a senior welfare center were randomly assigned to two groups: 1) A Wheel of Wellness counseling intervention group (n=49) and 2) a no-treatment control group (n=44). Wheel of Wellness counseling consisted of structured, individual counseling based on the Wheel of Wellness model and provided once a week for four weeks. Wellness lifestyle, depression, and health-related quality of life were assessed pre-and post-test in both groups. Results: Data from 89 participants were analyzed. For participants in the experimental group, there was a significant improvement on all of the wellness-lifestyle subtasks except realistic beliefs. Perceived wellness and depression significantly improved after the in the experimental group (n=43) compared to the control group (n=46) from pre- to post-test in the areas of sense of control (p =.033), nutrition (p =.017), exercise (p =.039), self-care (p <.001), stress management (p =.017), work (p =.011), perceived wellness (p =.019), and depression (p =.031). One participant in the intervention group discontinued the intervention due to hospitalization and three in the control group discontinued the sessions. Conclusions: Wheel of Wellness counseling was beneficial in enhancing wellness for the community-dwelling elderly people. Research into long-term effects of the intervention and health outcomes is recommended.