• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2024

This review examined and analyzed clinical research trends in the treatment of compression fractures in traditional Korean medicine using case studies. Accordingly, 5 web databases were searched using relevant Korean and English terms. Based on predefined exclusion and inclusion criteria, 16 case studies were selected, analyzed, and classified according to the journal, publication year, participants, chief complaints, affected vertebrae, treatment and evaluation methods, and improvement. The case studies reported various treatment methods, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, physical therapy, cupping, moxibustion, and band training. All 16 case studies reported the use of combination therapy. All 23 cases reported in these case studies demonstrated improvement in chief complaints, and none reported any side effects.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.61-68
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• 2006

Objectives : The Purpose of this report is to examine the effect of Remote Acupuncture Point Needling in the Low Back Pain patient of Acute Stage. Methods : From October 1st 2005 to May 31th 2006, 30 cases of low back pain patients at acute stage were divided into 2 groups; one group(control group) took near acupuncture point needling, and the other group(test group) took near acupuncture point needling with remote acupuncture point needling. For evaluating change of pain, Visual Analog Scale(VAS) was checked before and after Treatment. Results : Both acupuncture therapy showed good effect on low back pain of acute stage. And test group showed better effect on decreasing pain than control group. It was proved by the difference between VAS checked before treatment and what checked after treatment. But it was not significant statistically. Conclusion : Near acupuncture point needling and remote acupuncture point needling can be recommended as a useful therapy to treat low back pain of acute stage.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.145-160
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• 2003

Objective : This study was designed to find out whether placebo auricular acupuncture is able to be constituted as an appropriate control group for needle insertion to Korean. Methods : We performed a randomized controlled, single-blind study(n=48) comparing subjective evaluations of needles insertion and avoidance of needles insertion. Both ears were needled concurrently, one real acupuncture(needle insertion) and the other placebo acupuncture(avoidance of needle insertion with blunt tip). Subjects then completed a questionnaire rating the intensity of five sensations in each ear, and also attempted to identity which ear received placebo and which ear received real acupuncture. Results : As for the effects of real and placebo acupuncture on each item(Warmth, Fullness, Pain, Activity, Radiating), real acupuncture was significantly warmer, fuller, more painful than placebo acupuncture. In particular, the real acupuncture only in experienced acupuncture recipients was significantly warmer, fuller, more painful than placebo acupuncture. About the ability to differentiate real and placebo acupuncture, 54.2 percent correctly identified which ear received real acupuncture and which ear received placebo acupuncture. However, the ability to differentiate real and placebo acupuncture for naive and experienced acupuncture recipients was not significantly different. Conclusions : Most of the subjects(Korean) identified which ear received placebo and which ear received real acupuncture. We found that this placebo auricular acupuncture is not able to be applied to Korean, in particular for experienced acupuncture recipients. Further study is needed for new placebo auricular acupuncture or racial difference between American.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.189-196
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• 2013

Objectives : The aim of this study was to find out the therapeutic effect of bee venom acupuncture in the treatment of patient with trigger finger accompany side effects by steroid injection. Methods : As the effect of bee venom acupuncture about various articulation diseases observed, we tried to treat a case that was diagnosed trigger finger with side effects by steroid injection by using bee venom acupuncture. Result : After three times bee venom acupuncture treatments, 'VAS' score and triggering grade decreased quite noticeably, and other symptoms as have improved as well. Conclusions : Bee venom acupuncture have shown fairly effective to trigger finger accompany side effects by steroid injection.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2000

Chronic headache is one of the most common symptoms of outpatients. There are many approaches to treat chronic headache, but it is difficult to be resolved completely. So analgesics-addicted patients are increased in numbers. Acupuncture and ear-acupuncture have been used for relief headache. But it is not sufficient to compare the effect of acupuncture on several chronic headache groups. Thus we investigate the effect of acupuncture and ear-acupuncture on several chronic headache groups and analgesics-abused groups. We researched 36 patients who were treated at Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Kyung Hee Medical Center from August 1998 to July 1999. The chronic headache patients were classified into tension-type headache group, migraine group and unclassified headache group by Guide of IHS. Each group was treated with acupuncture and ear-acupuncture. The effect was assessed through questionnaires and self-rating headache index.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.20-31
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• 2021

The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for patients with rotator cuff diseases. There were 12 electronic databases and 3 trial registries searched up to November 30th, 2019. All randomized trials were eligible, regardless of language, date of publication, or settings. The primary outcomes were pain, shoulder function, and proportion of improved participants assessed within 12 weeks of randomization of the trial. The Cochrane risk of bias for the studies was assessed. Effects sizes were presented as a risk ratio, mean difference, or standardized mean difference with a 95% confidence intervals. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was adopted to rate certainty of evidence. Of the 3,686 records screened, 28 randomized trials (2,216 participants) were included in this review. The types of acupuncture included manual acupuncture, dry needling, electroacupuncture, acupotomy, warm needle acupuncture, and fire needle acupuncture. All of the studies had an unclear or high risk of bias related to more than 1 domain. Significant benefits of acupuncture in terms of pain and shoulder function were observed in all comparisons, however, the proportion of improved participants was not described in 2 comparisons. There was substantial heterogeneity among meta-analyzed trials. No serious harm was observed. For primary outcomes, the overall certainty of evidence was very low. There was very low certainty of evidence for the benefits of acupuncture for patients with rotator cuff diseases. The safety of acupuncture remains unclear due to the incompleteness of reporting. Future well-designed randomized trials with transparent reporting are required.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.85-95
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• 2016

Objectives Military medicine is the study of research which includes health, sanitation, clinic, and quarantine in military personnel. This study is focused on research the acupuncture treatment of military medicine. Methods The study on acupuncture research for Military Medicine was referred from via KoreaMed, OASIS, The Journal of Korean Military Medical Association, KMbase, KAMJE, NDSL, KISS, KISTI, PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochran library. As a result, 18 research papers were found and they were analyzed according to the year of publishment, the titles of journals, the nation of research center, the types of study, the purpose of study, the outcome of measurement, the type of acupuncture, and the assessment of acupuncture effect. And then assessed the risk of bias about RCT, NRCT, prospective cohort studies, and before and after studies. Results The number of the published research papers on acupuncture was increased since 2013. The studies were mainly published in the USA and eight out of 18 were RCT. The purpose of study is mostly for musculoskeletal and psychological disease and medical decision for acupuncture. The type of the acupuncture used is not only traditional acupuncture but also the auricular acupuncture. Even though the research results about the effect of acupuncture were excellent and positive, some of studies had a high risk of bias. Conclusions The studies state about acupuncture treatment as mostly positive and effective, however, further clinical studies are required to obtain objective clinical evidence of acupuncture treatment. Furthermore, future trials would be needed to find out effective acupuncture treatments on military duty.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.151-159
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• 2013

Objectives : The purpose of this systematic review was to overview and evaluate the current state of the usage of bee venom acupuncture. Methods : We collected 173 articles on bee venom acupuncture(BVA) clinical study from eight electronic databases from January 2002 to June 2013. Results : BVA was used in musculoskeletal diseases for 66 %, and the chosen acupoints were various. The ratio of the reports which had collected below 10 cases was 43 %. The concomitant treatment and evaluation tools showed diversity in each article. Conclusions : Bee venom clinical study shows the lack of unity and consistent regulation, and has low clinical cases. Future studies should correct these limits and promote more varied research to develop the therapy of bee venom acupuncture.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.15-28
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• 2011

Objectives : To understand the strength and weakness of traditional warm needle acupuncture based on existing research outcomes in Korea mostly and to suggest how to build the desirable warm needle acupuncture apparatus by overcoming demerits of traditional and currently existing ones. Methods : We searched warm needle relating papers in Korean with the key words of '온침, 화침, 열자극' by using DBpia, Journal of Korean Oriental Medical Society, Journal of Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Society and Journal of Society for Meridian and Acupoint. Degree dissertations in Korean were also searched with the same words through the search engine of Library of Kyung Hee University. We also searched with words of 'warm, thermal, heat, needle, acupuncture, temperature' via Pubmed and found a small number of English written papers and large number of Chinese written ones. To find english translated version of those papers, we googled with the same words with no success. Results : About 20 papers on warm needle acupuncture written in Korean were found and analyzed with respect to experimental factors that affected the thermal properties or the amount of heat stimulus of the acupuncture. More rigorous descriptions seemed to be required on the insertion depth, duration and manipulation of warm needle treatment. A basic heat transfer model was presented for the clarification of heat loss through the needle of warm needle acupuncture. Environmental factors such as air flow on the properties seems to be considered for the warm needle acupuncture. Conclusions : Papers on warm needle acupuncture were reviewed and analyzed based on their thermal properties and tools such as needles and moxa cones. Several suggestions were made on the descriptions relating the properties. Necessary specifications were introduced to aim modernized warm needle systems.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.85-98
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• 2007

Objectives : Standardization and clear description of locating acupuncture points guarantees reproducibility and credibility of the results in animal studies of acupuncture points and meridians. In this study, we aimed at analyzing the acupoint description of the previous experimental studies and suggesting guidelines for related journals. Methods : We searched animal studies where acupuncture points were used in Journal of Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Society and Journal of Meridian & Acupoint with a limitation of period, from 2002 to 2006. Data on experimental animals, acupuncture points and their descriptions were extracted and put in a predefined form. They were classified as one of the 4 classes; A) descriptions of the acupuncture points present, B) no description of the acupuncture points and only reference provided, C) neither description of the acupuncture points nor reference provided, or D) acupuncture point detector used. Two authors independently extracted and classified the data and the disagreements were resolved by discussion. Experts were invited to rate acupuncture point description validity on a numeric rating scale in the 11-item questionnaire. Results : Two hundred and five studies were identified and classified as follows; A) 32.2% (n=66), B) 7.8% (n=16), C) 51.2% (n=105), and D) 8.8% (n=18). Experts ratings were significantly lower for class C (mean${\pm}$SD, 2.14${\pm}$1.35, 95% CI [1.90, 2.39], P = 0.004 compared with class B, P ${\leq}$ 0.001 compared with class A or C) and no difference was found between classes A, B, and D. Conclusions : Reporting of acupuncture points in experimental animals is poor and validity and reliability of the result from such reporting is hampered. We suggest that journal editors and experts provide guidelines for reporting animal acupuncture points and adopt them into guide for authors for related journals.