• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.149-156
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• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to report the effect of acupotomy for patients with Lumbar intervertebral disc Herniation. Methods : We treated Four patients who have HIVD of L-spine with acupotomy. Visual analog scores(VAS) and Oswestry Low-back pain Disabiliby Index(ODI) were compared before-treatment with after-tretment. When the patients is discharged, the satisfaction of acupotomy were graded by Five-point Likert scale. Results : VAS and ODI were decreased at all case. Likert scale point were cheked as grade 4 at all case. Conclusions : This study shows acupotomy has useful effect on HIVD of L-spine.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.254-258
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• 2020

Background: Scapulohumeral periarthritis causes pain and stiffness, and limits movement but it is a treatable condition. This was a clinical study of acupotomy treatment for scapulohumeral periarthritis. Methods: There were 80 patients randomly assigned to the traditional Chinese Medicine group (acupotomy) and the Western medicine group (naproxen), with 40 cases in each group. All patients had adjunct physiotherapy exercises for 14 days. Patients received acupotomy treatment 3 times for 14 days (Day 0, 7 and 14) or naproxen (0.22 g capsule; a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) 3 times a day, for 14 days. The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, range of motion (ROM) values, and the Melle scale, together with the therapeutic standard of diseases and syndromes in traditional Chinese Medicine were used for diagnosis and evaluation. Results: There were significant differences in the VAS scores, ROM, Melle scores, cure rate and total effective rate in the group which took naproxen and the acupotomy group, before and after treatment (p < 0.01). There were significant differences in the changes in VAS, ROM and Melle scores between the 2 groups (p < 0.01), and the acupotomy group was better than the naproxen group. Conclusion: Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine can improve functional activity and reduce the level of pain experienced by patients suffering from scapulohumeral periarthritis. However, improvement of functional activity of the shoulder joint following acupotomy treatment was more obvious than the use of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and the cure rate, and total effective rate of acupotomy was better.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.119-126
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• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical effects of Korean medical treatments combined with acupotomy on patients diagnosed with a herniated intervertebral disc of the lumbar spine. Methods : We reviewed the medical records of twenty in patients diagnosed with a herniated intervertebral disc of the lumbar spine. They had received Korean medical treatment combined with acupotomy on tender points in the gluteus minimus muscle and piriformis muscle at Gwangju Korean Medicine Hospital of Dong-Shin University from April, 2014 to December, 2014. To evaluate the efficacy of the treatments, the twenty in patients were asked to complete the Numerical Rating Scale(NRS) and the Oswestry Disability Index(ODI) before acupotomy, the first day after acupotomy, the third day after acupotomy, and the fifth day after acupotomy. Results : 1. NRS significantly decreased from $6.15{\pm}1.27$ to $3.90{\pm}1.45$. 2. ODI significantly decreased from $23.64{\pm}8.76$ to $15.95{\pm}7.35$. Conclusions : Korean medical treatment combined with acupotomy on tender points in the gluteus minimus muscle and piriformis muscle might be effective in reducing pain and improving the life quality of patients with a herniated intervertebral disc of the lumbar spine. We hope that further studies will be done to produce more clinical data and ensure effective application of these results.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2019

Background: In Korean medicine, carpal tunnel syndrome is treated by stimulating the acupoints around the wrist. Although a deep understanding of anatomy and guidance is needed to stimulate these acupoints to avoid undesirable side-effects, currently there are no published guidelines for acupotomy treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of fluoroscopy-guided acupotomy compared with conventional acupotomy treatment. Methods: This is a randomized, patient-assessor, patient blind, parallel clinical trial. A total of 30 patients will be enrolled at Wonkwang University Gwangju Hospital, and will be allocated to either an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group will be treated using fluoroscopy-guided acupotomy and the control group will be treated using the conventional acupotomy method. Results: The primary outcome measure will be identification of a cross-section area of the median nerve measured by ultrasonography, and the secondary outcome measure will be the alleviation of pain measured by the Visual Analogue Scale, improvement in the Nerve Conduction Study, Tinel test, Phalen's test, EuroQol 5-dimension scale, and Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire score. Safety components will be measured by monitoring vital signs, electrocardiographs, blood tests, general chemical tests, urine tests and pregnancy tests. In addition, observations for adverse effects will be performed during the trial. Conclusion: This study will provide a more effective, and less harmful way of treating carpal tunnel syndrome compared with conventional acupotomy. Fluoroscopy-guided acupotomy will help practitioners to be accurate in direction and depth of the needle for treating carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.285-298
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• 2020

This study aimed to review clinical studies about Acupotomy used for Knee Osteoarthritis. We searched the following 12 online databases (KISS, NDSL, RISS, OASIS, Earticle, Kmbase, MEDLINE/Pubmed, Cochrane library, Ebscohost, Ovid, CNKI, Wanfang), to find randomized controlled trials that used Acupotomy for knee osteoarthritis. The methodological quality of randomized controlled trials were assessed by using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and meta-analyses were performed. 16 randomized controlled trials were included. Total number of patients was 1169. The average duration of treatment was 3.14 weeks and most of the patients were treated once a week. The major treatment sites were ligaments, muscles, and tender nodules and the most used evaluation tool was the efficiency. We selected 4 studies and meta-analyzed them. All of the studies performed Acupotomy+sodium hyaluronate injection as a treatment group, and sodium hyaluronate injection as a control group. Meta-analysis showed positive results for Acupotomy+sodium hyaluronate injection in terms of efficiency rate compared to sodium hyaluronate injection. Also Meta-analysis showed positive results for Acupotomy+sodium hyaluronate injection in terms of WOMAC (pain, stiffness, function) compared to sodium hyaluronate injection. In this study, we reviewed studies about Acupotomy used for knee osteoarthritis. The studies showed that Acupotomy can significantly effective on knee osteoarthritis. But according to Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) evaluation method, most of the study's risk of bias was unclear. Threrefore, more high-quality studies will be needed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.285-289
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• 2020

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical effect of acupotomy, a newly upcoming acupuncture treatment method for a dorsal wrist ganglion cyst. Methods: A patient with a dorsal wrist ganglion cyst was treated with acupotomy under ultrasonographic guidance. The symptoms caused by the cyst and size of the cyst under ultrasonographic observation were used to evaluate the effect of the acupotomy treatment. Results: The numeric rating scale score reduced from 7 to 1.4 throughout the treatment period. The size and swelling of the cyst decreased following acupotomy treatment. Conclusion: Acupotomy had a positive clinical effect in the treatment of a dorsal wrist ganglion cyst in this case. Further studies are required for its additional retrospective application.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.143-151
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• 2011

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to report the effect of acupotomy for patient with avascular necrosis(AVN) of femur head. Methods : Three patient who had been diagnosed as AVN participated in this study. The patient treated by acupotomy therapy. After the treatment, the patient was measured by visual analogue scale(VAS), Harris hip score and five likert scale Results : The patient informed the researcher of reduced pain and improved range of movement after the conduct of acupotomy therapy. The efficacy of acupotomy treatment was reaffirmed by the results of the VAS, physical examination (ROM, Patrcik sign), Harris hip score. Conclusions : Acupotomy therapy on AVN of femur head shows the efficacy in reducing pain and improving movement.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2017

Objectives:The purpose of this study is to report the effect of acupotomy on pain, lumbar function, and quality of life in acute low back pain patients. Methods:We performed Acupotomy in three patients who have acute low back pain due to a traumatic motive within one week. NRS was used to evaluate patients' pain, ROM and RMDQ were used to evalutate lumbar function, EQ-5D and EQ VAS were used to evaluate quality of life, and a five-point Likert scale was used to evaluate treatment satisfaction. Results: Acupotomy reduced the patient's NRS, increased ROM and reduced RMDQ. EQ-5D increased in cases 1 and 3 but decreased in case 2 and EQ VAS increased in all cases. Conclusions: This study shows acupotomy has useful effect and acupotomy can be a effective treatment on acute low back pain patients.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.276-283
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• 2021

The purpose of this review was to investigate acupotomy treatment for peripheral facial palsy. By reviewing recent clinical trends, this may contribute to standardizing acupotomy treatment methods. There were 7 randomized controlled trials and 6 case series using acupotomy treatment for peripheral facial palsy published between January 01, 2014 and April 05, 2021, which were retrieved from 9 online databases. The number and characteristics of participants, main treatment sites, combination treatments, size of acupotomy needle, frequency and total period of treatment, evaluation indices, efficacy, and adverse events were analyzed. "Tender point or induration," "infraorbical foramen," and "buccal mucosa" were the most used treatment sites. The sizes of acupotomy needles varied from 20 mm to 80 mm in length, and 0.35 mm to 1.0 mm in diameter. One treatment cycle was performed every 3 to 5-7 days, and the number of treatments per treatment session ranged from 3 to 5-9 cycles. The results were evaluated using 1 to 4 evaluation indices and 9 different evaluation indices were used overall. The efficacy rate was the most used index, followed by the House-Brackmann grade, and electrocardiography. The "Risk of Bias 2," categorized most studies as having "some concerns." There were few adverse events reported.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2023

Between May 2014 and April 2022, a total of 926 articles were retrieved from the international database, and a total of 233 articles were retrieved from the Korean database. From there, 14 studies were selected, and evaluated by the published year, terminology of the acupotomy, sample size, disease type, retention time, treatment sites, insertion depth and size of the acupotomy, treatment frequency, and duration, type of acupotomy manipulation method, evaluation index, therapeutic effects, adverse effects, and assessment of the risk of bias in randomized controlled trials. This study examined the need for additional acupotomy studies to secure an objective basis for the application of clinical treatment. Furthermore, the detailed description of the study methods and results and unified terminology can provide evidence for the efficacy of acupotomy.