• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.559-568
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• 2004

Diagnosis of Raynaud's phenomenon is primarily based on clinical symptoms. Cold stress test(CST) done by DITI(Digital Infrared Thermographic Image) can be helpful for objective diagnosis. The cold stress test was performed three times by DITI; the first after 15 minutes of rest, the second right after one minute of soaking in $20^{\circ}C$ water, the third ten minutes after immersion. For a clear diagnosis, the temperature of the finger tips must be low, or the thermal difference between the metacarpophalangeal joints and the fingertips must be large. Also the evaluation of treatment depends on decrease of thermal gradient between the metacarpophalangeal joints and the finger tips after CST. In oriental medicine Raynaud's phenomenon can be categorized by coldness of the limbs or numbness. Numbness was diagnosed as depression of Ki and Chiljehyangbuhwan(Qizhixiangfuwan) was prescribed. Positive results were observed, not only in follow up CST, but also Visual Analogue Scale after treatment.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.165-171
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• 2013

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of acupuncture treatment on a patient suffering from CRPS Type 1. Methods : A 30-year-old female patient suffering from CRPS Type 1 with symptoms of intense burning pain, joint stiffness, restricted mobility, rapid hair and nail growth, allodynia, hyperalgesia and coldness of the right leg was treated with acupuncture on six acupuncture points on the leg from 13 July to 18 July of 2011. Improvement of the patient's symptoms was evaluated by Numerical Rating Scale(NRS), Digital Infrared Thermographic Image(DITI). Results : After 6 days of treatment, NRS score decreased significantly and the DITI results showed moderate improvement in temperature. Conclusions : The results suggest that acupuncture may be an effective in reducing the symptoms of CRPS. Further study is needed to evaluate the significancy of this report.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.188-199
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was performed to find the desirable remaining time of needle in the acupuncture treatment. Methods : The 21 volunteers were given acupuncture at LU9 vertically and needles were remained for 2 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min, respectively. The thermographic change induced by acupuncture was measured with Digital Infrared Thermographic Image at the following acupoints: LU11, LU10, LU9, LU8, LU5, LU1, and PC7. The statistical significance of thermographic change was evaluated using paired t-test and post hoc Wilcoxon test. Results : The most significant changes after acupuncture were produced when needles were remained for 10 min or 15 min. LU11, LU5, LU1, and PC7 were the point at which all of the remaining time produced significant change commonly. At LU11, the biggest change was produced when needle was remained for 15 min, while at LU5, LU1, and PC7, the biggest change was produced when needle was remained for 30 min, and the smallest change was produced when needle was remained for 10 min at all of acupoints of LU11, LU5, LU1, and PC7. The unbalance between left side and right was decreased the most largely in 15 min group. Conclusions : The results of this study suggest that the desirable remaining time of acupuncture needle might be 15 min.