A clinical study on the effect of oriental medical treatment to the growth of children using bone age as measurer

골연령 측정을 통한 한방 성장 치료의 임상적 연구

Objectives : The object of this study was to evaluate the effect of oriental medical treatment to the growth of children using bone age as measurer. Methods : This clinical study has been carried out with 32 cases(male 15, female 17 of children) aging from 7 to 15 years old, who visited to the Department of Pediatrics growth clinic, ○○ medical center from January 2004 to August 2006 and were treated for more than 12 months. Their height, body weight, body mass index(BMI) and bone age were estimated at two points: Before and after oriental medical treatment was applied. Bone age is measured by X-ray image of growth plate in inferior radiocarpal joint. Results : Bone age correlated with choronological age, height, weight. Difference between bone and choronological age was correlated with percentile of height and weight. The mean growth of children showed 4.03 percentile upwardly(p=.046), and difference between bone and choronological age was reduced from $0.23{\pm}1.62$ to $-0.026{\pm}1.64(p=.040)$ after treatment. Conclusions : This study shows that oriental medical treatment helped growth of children using bone age as measurer.