• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.107-113
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• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of the acupuncture at affected limb and unaffected limb on treating ankle sprain of acute stage. Methods : From October 1st, 2007 to March 23rd, 2008, the 60 patients who had visited Dongshin mokdong oriental medical hospital and Gwangju oriental medical hospital, Dongshin university with acute ankle sprain were divided into 2 groups ; one group took acupuncture at affected limb, and the other group took acupuncture at unaffected limb. To evaluating the efficiency of each treatment, Visual Analog Scale(VAS) and Ankle-Hindfoot Scale(AHS) were applied before treatment and after 3rd treatment. Results : As a result of evaluating by using VAS, the score of acupuncture at unaffected limb was marked lower than the score of acupuncture at affected limb. As a result of evaluating by using AHS, the score comparison between the two groups had no significance after treatment. Conclusions : Acupuncture at unaffected limb is more effective than acupuncture at affected limb on treating ankle sprain of acute stage.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.111-118
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• 2004

Background and purpose: Opposing-needling technique involves selecting acupoints at unaffected limb. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of LI4-LI11 electrical acupuncture at unaffected limb on the cerebral blood flow in ischemic stroke patients using SPECT Methods: We selected 9 ischemic stroke patients. Baseline brain SPECT was done with triple head gamma camera(MultiSPECT3, Siemens, USA) after intravenous administration of 925 MBq of Tc-99m ECD). Fifteen-minute electro-acupuncture at Hapgok(LI 4) and Gokji(LI 11) were applied on unaffected upper limb of subjects. The same dose of Tc-99m ECD was injected during the electro-acupuncture, and the second SPECT images were obtained. Using the computer software(ICON 7.1, Siemens, USA), 3 SPECT slices(upper, middle, lower) surrounding the brain lesion were selected and each slice was divided by 10-16 brain regions. Asymmetry indexes were analyzed in each brain region. We regarded$\geq$10% changes of asymmetry index between before and after electro-acupuncture as significance. Results: Seven Patients(77.8%) had significantly increased perfusion and 2(22.2%) didn't show increased perfusion in post-acupuncture scans compared to pre-acupuncture scans(baseline). The regions of CBF improvement were mostly frontal lobes and anterior temporal lobes. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that LI4-LI11 electro-acupuncture at unaffected limb increased regional cerebral blood perfusion to the corresponding brain areas in ischemic stroke patients.