• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.87-98
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• 2013

Objectives The purpose of this study is to find a literature study of infantile anorexia clinical cases with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to utilize with Korean medicine treatment methods. Methods 5 TCM journals with the highest impact factors were searched and selected among the journals listed in www.cnki.net. The search keywords were, "Children's Anorexia", "Infantile Apositia", "Infantile Anorexia", "Anorexia Nervosa", and "child of anorexia". he search was limited to the publication date from 2000 to 2012. Results Total 20 studies were selected: Acupuncture (5), Herbal medicine (9), Complex Treatment (3), External Application (2) and Moxibustion (1). Among the Acupuncture related studies, 1 study tested the effect of Sifeng (EX-UE10, 四縫), 3 studies tested the effect of Sifeng (EX-UE10, 四縫) and other acupoints treatment together, and 1 study tested the effect of combination of other acupoints. In all these studies, the study groups showed better therapeutic effects compared to the control groups. The Herbal medicine related studies showed the improvement in appetite and weight as a result of Herbal Medicines treatment. Among the Complex Treatment related studies, 2 studies tested the effect of Acupuncture and Chiropractic co-treatment, 1 study tested the effect of Moxibustion and Herbal medicine co-treatment. In all these studies, symptoms of Infantile anorexia showed significantly improved. Other papers related to External Application and Moxibustion treatment were reported improving in appetite and had other the clinical effects as well. Conclusions Clinical studies testing the effect of TCM for the treatment of Infantile Anorexia have been conducted in small scales, and all the studies showed a certain level of symptom improvement of the patients in the study groups. These results implicate that the methods in Korean medicine can be highly potential treatment options for the treatment of Infantile Anorexia. Accurate and well-controlled studies in large scale would be required to prove the effect of Korean medicine for the treatment of patients with Infantile Anorexia.