• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.133-147
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• 2009

Objectives : To review RCTs on acupuncture treatment for low back pain in order to establish a standard acupuncture treatment model in treating low back pain. Methods : RCT articles on traditional acupuncture treatment for low back pain were searched through online database. Study Quality was assessed using the FEAS. Results : Ten out of the one hundred six articles searched were reviewed. Among the ten articles reviewed, six articles compared acupuncture treatment with no treatment or non-penetrating sham acupuncture. All six articles concluded significantly positive effect of acupuncture compared to the control. Conclusions : The ideal acupuncture treatment model for low back pain was obtained as follows. A sterile disposable stainless steel(0.30mm${\times}$40mm) should be inserted to more than six acupuncture points on the BL, GV and GB meridians such as $BL_23$, $BL_25$, $BL_40$, $BL_60$, $GV_4$ and $GB_30$. Sparrow pecking method to obtain 'de-qi' is recommended and repeated stimulation during the 20 minute retention time is necessary. Ideal treatment frequency would be more than one a week for about 7 weeks.

• 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.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.249-262
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical studies which focus on acupuncture's effect on anxiety disorder. Methods: We selected clinical studies through six databases. We then examined the characteristics of the selected studies and conducted an assessment for Risk of Bias (ROB). Results: Seventeen randomized-controlled trials were selected to determine the effects of acupuncture on anxiety disorders. We found that the risk of bias in most studies was unclear. The intervention of 7 seventeen randomized-controlled trials (RCT) was basic acupuncture, 8 RCT involved electric acupuncture, 2 RCT consisted of acupuncture and Moxibustion. Four of the 7 basic acupuncture RCTs and 5 of the 8 electric acupuncture RCTs had a significant effect on anxiety factors for anxiety disorders. Conclusions: Acupuncture treatment for anxiety disorders was found to be effective compared to the controls, or there was no difference in effectiveness compared to the controls. However, the quality of the included studies was low, and there only were a small number of studies. Therefore, well-designed studies and a greater number of the studies are needed.

• 대한한방부인과학회지
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.29-39
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion for mastitis. Methods: We used ten databases including Embase, PubMed, and CNKI to investigate the literatures of mastitis using the keywords "mastitis" and "acupuncture", "breast inflammation" and "acupuncture", "mastitis" and "needle", "breast inflammation" and "needle", "mastitis" and "moxibustion". We excluded studies which included treatments that could affect the judgement of the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment, and the control group was limited to antibiotics. The quality of the paper was evaluated by Risk of Bias. A meta-analysis was performed using a "Review manager" to see the effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion compared to antibiotics. Results: Only six RCT were finally selected. Five studies use the total effective rate as a evaluating index, and it was significantly higher than that of the control group in two studies. In other three studies, acupuncture showed similar effectiveness to antibiotics. Meta-analysis was performed through three studies, there was no statistically significant difference in total effective rate between acupuncture and antibiotic treatment. Conclusions: Analysis of six RCT showed that acupuncture and moxibustion seem to have many possibilities as one of the treatments for mastitis. However the number of documents is not sufficient, more research should be done to obtain reliable information.

• 한방재활의학과학회지
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.55-66
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• 2018

Objectives To evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of bee venom acupuncture for ankle sprain. Methods We conducted search across 11 electronic databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL [CENTRAL], KoreaMed, Kmbase, Koreanstudies Information Service System [KISS], National Digital Science Library [NDSL], Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information [KISTI], China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], Wanfang and Chinese Scientific Journals Database [VIP] database) to find clinical trials that used bee venom acupuncture as treatment for ankle sprain. The methodological quality of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) tool, while non-randomized controlled clinical trials (NRCTs) were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment tool for Non-randomized Study (RoBANS) tool. Results Four RCTs and one nRCT met our inclusion criteria. Almost studies showed that bee venom acupuncture has positive effect on ankle sprain. 4 studies of same intervention and control included in the meta-analysis. When comparing bee venom acupuncture and acupuncture with acupuncture, the effect size of standardized mean difference (SMD) was -0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.95~1.56, Z=0.55, p=0.83). And when comparing bee venom acupuncture with acupuncture, the effect size of SMD was -0.17 (95% CI: -0.65~0.31, Z=0.71, p=0.48). Conclusions Although our systematic review found encouraging but limited evidence of bee venom acupuncture for ankle sprain, most of the studies included in the analysis were evaluated as methodologically high risk of bias. From now on further well-designed RCTs should be encouraged.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제37권3호
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• pp.137-150
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of moxibustion treatment for osteoarthritis. There were 9 databases used to retrieve randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used moxibustion as treatment for osteoarthritis. The quality of methodology for the RCTs was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool [Review Manager (RevMan) Version 5.3 Windows, The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark]. The inclusion criteria for this review was met by 27 RCTs. All studies were conducted in China. A 4-week moxibustion treatment period was the most common. EX-LE4 and SP10 and GB34 acupoints were most frequently selected in the treatment of osteoarthritis. The most commonly used evaluation index was the visual analog scale (VAS). All studies, including a meta-analysis showed that moxibustion treatments were statistically significantly effective at treating knee osteoarthritis. However, well-designed randomized RCTs without a high risk of bias should be designed in the future.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제35권3호
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• pp.120-128
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• 2018

Background: Adhesive capsulitis (AC) is a common condition that includes shoulder pain and limited movement. Despite more than 100 years of AC treatment, the most efficacious treatment remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) using acupuncture for AC. Methods: Thirty participants with AC were randomly assigned to acupuncture (A) or sham acupuncture (SA) groups. The participants received 15 acupuncture sessions over 6 weeks, and follow-up occurred for an additional 4 weeks thereafter. The primary clinical outcome was the numeric rating scale (NRS) for shoulder pain 6 weeks from the baseline. Secondary outcomes included range of motion (ROM) in the shoulder, the shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI), the EuroQol-5 dimensions (EQ-5D), the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and the patient global impression of change (PGIC). Results: Thirty participants were enrolled out of 37 screened individuals. Recruitment was conducted between August 2014 until May 2015. A total of 28 participants (93%) completed the 6-week intervention, and 26 participants (87%) completed the study. NRS, ROM, SPADI, EQ-5D, PSQI, and PGIC scores improved in both the experimental group and the sham group after 6 weeks, but the difference between the groups was not statistically significant. Adverse events were reported by 12 participants, although these events were not associated with acupuncture. Conclusion: A future RCT for AC may be feasible with some modifications to the recruitment plan and the secondary outcome measurement methods.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.35-41
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• 2020

The aim of this study was to examine pharmacopuncture treatment for lateral epicondylitis, and to contribute to developing a standardized treatment regimen by reviewing trends in clinical trials. Five randomized controlled trials, 1 case-control study, and 8 cohort studies published after 1999, that involved pharmacopuncture for lateral epicondylitis, were selected from Korean and international online databases (n = 8). The type of pharmacopuncture, dose, frequency, efficacy, and adverse events were analyzed. Seven types of pharmacopuncture were used, namely Bee Venom, Illicium henryi Diels, Akebiae Caulis, Angelicae sinensis Diels, Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, Hominis Placenta, and Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix. Dose, treatment duration, and treatment frequency varied widely. One study assessed the treatment efficacy according to frequency. Nine studies lacked data on adverse events. The quality of 5 randomized controlled trials was low. Although pharmacopuncture treatment appeared to be effective for lateral epicondylitis, it was difficult to standardize the regimen for lateral epicondylitis.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.389-404
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• 2018

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate acupuncture therapy for post-stroke cognitive disorder to suggest the methods of a study about acupuncture therapy. Methods: Several academic databases were used in this study, including National Digital Science Library (NDSL), National Assembly Library of Korea, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), Korean studies Information Service System (KISS), Korean Medical Database (KMBASE), Korea Med, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), PubMed, MEDLINE with Full Text, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Keywords used were "중풍", "뇌졸중", "인지장애", "침", "acupuncture", and "cognitive disorder". Results: Ultimately, 28 papers were investigated. that were mainly published in 2012 and 2016. Of these, More than two-thirds received a score of one or less on the Jadad scale. Acupuncture points such as GV20, GV24, PC6, EX-HN1, SP6, and GV26 were most frequently used. The treatment duration was mostly 30 minutes or less, and the treatment cycle was mostly for four weeks. Dilatational wave was generally used in pulse wave form, and amplitude of electricity was increased until patients were able to endure. G6805 was generally used in electric acupuncture apparatus. According to results of acupuncture treatment, assessments such as the MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination) and the Montreal Cognitive Function Assessment Scale (MoCA) showed statistically significant improvements in 28 studies. Conclusions: Future research is needed to standardize the treatment of acupuncture, and more diversified high quality papers should be published to help clarify the therapeutic effects of acupuncture and the mechanisms of cognitive disorder post-stroke.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.127-149
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• 2005

This study is designed to investigate the method of manufacturing herbal acupuncture through literature of oriental medicine. The findings of this study are as follows; 1. The methods of manufacturing herbal acupuncture go through the process of abstraction, purification, mixing, filtration, putting and tight sealing in the container, sterilization, quality control, printing and packing 2. There are many ways to manufacturing herbal acupuncture, for example water-alcohol precipitation, alcohol-water precipitation, liquid-liquid abstract, acid-base abstract, metal base precipitation, distillation, molecular structure, polyamide absorption, dialysis, and ion exchange, etc. And popular method is water-alcohol precipitation. This is through alcohol precipitate extracting the principal ingredients from water abstraction. This is very simple and efficient way using melting characteristics of compounds in herb to water and ethanol. 3. Sterilization of herbal acupuncture is through heating-pressure, boiling, steam flowing, low temperature, filtering, radiation, cooling, and microwaves. Nowadays filtering is commonly used. And sterilization is estimated by an examination of asepsis . 4. Herbal acupuncture must be undergo study and experiment to clinical use. The problems of herbal acupuncture are turbidity, instability, causing hemolysis, pain, and fever. So many provisions (addition, sterilization, and filtration etc.) must be prepared. 5. The theory of manufacturing herbal acupuncture is from oriental medicine, not western. So it must be corresponded to oriental medical theory, for example Gimi(氣味), Guigyung(歸經), Ingyung(引經), Bosa(補瀉), and Match of Herb. It is recommended that further study of many other sided investigations in the future.