Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies最新文献

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is disease that gives burdens for many countries, with a few choices for the management such as drugs or surgery, each has side effects that decrease the quality of life. Acupuncture is proven to be an effective treatment for pain and can restore nerve functions, and laser acupuncture is one of the modalities. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of laser acupuncture with total sample of 3 patients (6 wrists) mostly with tingling sensations and the outcomes are Boston questionnaire (BCTQ), visual analogue scale (VAS), Tinel sign, Phalen sign, and parameters of nerve conduction study (NCS). Acupuncture points used here are PC6, PC7, EXUE9, and LI4. The results show a decrease in NCS grades for 3 wrists, all wrists have BCTQ score improvements, a decrease in VAS, but no significant improvement in Tinel and Phalen signs. It is concluded that laser acupuncture can be used as a treatment option for the management of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Acupuncture's actions have been explained by biomedical research. However, the meridian system used in acupuncture needs further clarification. This review describes how acupuncture affects the body and brain. From the perspective of traditional East Asian medicine, the meridian system is closely connected with acupuncture's treatment effects. In the body, the indications of acupoints, primarily established based on the meridian system, have spatial symptom patterns. Spatial patterns of acupoint indications are distant from the stimulated sites and strongly associated with the corresponding meridian's route. Understanding how acupuncture works based on the original meridian system is important. From a neuroscience perspective, an acupuncture-induced sensation originates from the bottom-up action of simple needling in the peripheral receptor and the reciprocal interaction with top-down brain modulation. In the brain, enhanced bodily attention triggered by acupuncture stimulation can activate the salience network and deactivate the default mode network regardless of the actual stimulation. The application of data science technology to acupuncture research may provide new tools to uncover the principles of acupoint selection and enhance the clinical efficacy of acupuncture treatment in various diseases.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is commonly found in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As a non-pharmacological treatment of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), cupping has been clinically used for respiratory symptoms. We sequentially identified a series of patients with COVID-19 with ARDS who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Warm cupping of the posterior thorax was performed for seven days. We collected longitudinal severity scores on cough, breathlessness, chest tightness, type of oxygen therapy, and oxygen saturation (SpO₂). We hereby report the changes in the severity scores in a series of eight patients who received 21 sessions of cupping in addition to conventional treatments. All patients reported improvement in symptom scores that was matched by an increase in SpO₂ by as much as 3.16%. All patients were discharged and did not require the use of a mechanical ventilator. The results suggest that combining cupping with conventional treatment may provide a good prognosis for patients with COVID-19 with ARDS.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is currently a major reason for disability worldwide. Therapeutic massage is one of the most popular non-pharmacological methods for managing chronic LBP (CLBP), and the Fateh method is a massage technique based on Iranian Traditional Medicine.

Objectives: The current study aimed to compare the effects of Fateh massage with those of acupuncture and physiotherapy on relieving pain and disability in CLBP.

Methods: Eighty-four patients with CLBP were categorized into groups that received Fateh massage, acupuncture, or physiotherapy. Each group included 28 randomly assigned patients who completed 10 sessions of therapy. Visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and Roland-Morris disability scores were evaluated at baseline, after intervention, and four weeks later. The findings were analyzed with SPSS software.

Results: The baseline VAS and Roland-Morris scores of the three study groups did not indicate significant differences (p > 0.05). All three groups showed significant pre-post improvements in both scores (p < 0.05). At the end of the treatment sessions, the three groups showed no significant difference in the reductions in pain intensity and disability score (p > 0.05). Improvements in disability and pain between the first and third time points were significant in all three groups (p < 0.05 for each group). In addition, the results of massage, physiotherapy, and acupuncture groups were not significantly different (p > 0.05). No adverse events occurred in the patients.

Conclusion: The effects of Fateh massage were comparable to those of acupuncture and physiotherapy in reducing pain and disability in patients with CLBP.

Background: Electronic moxibustion (EM) was developed to minimize the side effects of traditional moxibustion, such as burns, and to overcome therapeutic compliances such as smoke or smell.

Objectives: To investigate distributions and thermal stimulation of EM at various depths using silicon phantom and to compare this methodology to traditional indirect moxibustion (TIM).

Methods: A silicon phantom composed of polydimethylsiloxane was heated and immersed in a hot plate containing warm water to set the phantom's temperature to that of biological tissue. K-type thermocouples were inserted into the phantom at depths of 0, 2, 5, 7, and 10 mm to measure temperature changes with thermal stimulation of EM or TIM placed on top of the phantom.

Results: At the surface of the phantom, the peak temperature after applying TIM (55.04 ± 0.92℃ [Δ23.79 ± 0.96℃]) was significantly higher than after EM (43.25 ± 1.95℃ [Δ13.00 ± 2.23℃]), with both interventions reaching the highest temperature after 2 minutes. The temperature increase for TIM was also statistically significant compared to EM when measured at a depth of 2 mm. For the experimental setting with TIM, after reaching peak surface temperature, a rapid decrease was observed at the surface and 2 mm while EM showed a much more gradual decline. There was no significant difference in temperature change between the groups at depths of 5, 7, and 10 mm.

Conclusion: TIM resulted in a higher temperature rise compared to EM at the surface and at a 2 mm depth reaching over 50℃, which creates risk of burns. Thermal stimulation with EM had a lower risk of burns with temperature increment not being statistically different from TIM below the depth of 5 mm.

Elsberg syndrome (ES) is an infectious syndrome presenting with variable signs of acute lumbosacral radiculomyelitis. Its low recognition rate leads to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. Thus, some ES patients may develop neurological sequelae. This case described a 74-year-old woman complained of urinary retention, constipation, and sacral numbness after herpes zoster in the perianal area. She was diagnosed with ES and accepted conventional drug treatments and urethral catheterization. The treatment was ineffective; therefore, she accepted electroacupuncture six times and her symptoms completely disappeared, with no recurrence of neurological disorders during 1-year follow-up. This shows that acupuncture is a safe and effective alternative therapy for ES. Nonetheless, further prospective studies are necessary to prove its efficacy in ES.

Background: Despite the widespread clinical use of acupuncture in painful situations, the use of this treatment should be further clarified. Nociception is mediated by the activation of nociceptors, such as transient receptor potentials (TRPs). The family of TRPs includes TRPV1, TRPM8, and TRPA1, which can be stimulated by substances such as capsaicin, menthol, and methyl salicylate, respectively.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the role of TRPs in antinociception via the administration of agonists of these receptors in the Zusanli acupoint (ST36) in models of inflammatory, acute, and neuropathic pain.

Methods: Male Wistar rats were used for this experiment. All rats received a subcutaneous injection of TRP agonists (capsaicin, menthol, or methyl salicylate) in ST36; saline was injected as control. Nociception was evaluated using the electronic mechanical threshold test and tail-flick test before the administration of complete Freund's adjunct or chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve and after the administration of TRP agonists. Results: Nociception was found to be attenuated after treatment with TRP agonists. The administration of different doses (0.03, 0.3, and 3.0 μg/20 μL) of capsaicin, menthol, and methyl salicylate in the different pain models (neuropathic, inflammatory, and nociceptive) induced antinociception in most of the evaluated time points.

Conclusion: Based on the findings, we suggest that the activation of TRPV1, TRPM8, and TRPA1 receptors results in the antinociceptive effect of the stimulation of the ST36 acupoint. Thus, TRP receptors may present a new therapeutic opportunity for the control of inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

Background: Chronic pain is a complex phenomenon that brings physical and emotional impairments negatively impacting people's quality of life. The adoption of interventions such as ear acupuncture and dry cupping can represent a treatment option for people with chronic back pain.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of ear acupuncture combined with dry cupping therapy on the interference of pain with the daily activities and quality of life of adults with chronic back pain.

Methods: An open-label, randomized, parallel-group controlled clinical trial. One hundred and ninety-eight adults were randomized into control (CG - ear acupuncture) or experimental (EG - ear acupuncture combined with dry cupping) groups. Interventions were performed in five sessions, once a week, lasting five weeks. Evaluations were performed before the first session, after the last session, and seven days after the second evaluation, using the Brief Pain Inventory to assess the impact of pain on daily activities and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) to assess the quality of life.

Results: Between the initial and final sessions, there were significant changes in daily activities , activity, work, mood, relationships, sleep, and in the physical, psychological and social relationships domains for both the control and experimental groups. Improved perception of quality of life and satisfaction with health were observed for the participants in the experimental group.

Conclusion: Ear acupuncture combined with dry cupping showed better results in terms of perception of quality of life and satisfaction with health when compared to ear acupuncture by itself.

Background: Exercise therapy is the first choice non-pharmacotherapeutic approach for musculoskeletal pain; however, it often interferes with the implementation and continuation of exercise due to fear-avoidance behaviors. Trigger point acupuncture (TrPAcp) has been reported to reduce musculoskeletal pain.

Objectives: To examine the efficacy of exercise combined with TrPAcp compared to exercise alone for older patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), the most common subjective symptom reported by old people of both sexes in Japan.

Methods: In this single-center randomized controlled trial conducted at Teikyo Heisei University, 15 men and women aged ≥ 65 years with low back pain for at least 3 months who met the eligibility criteria were included. The Ex+TrPAcp group received exercise and trigger point acupuncture, while the Ex group received only exercise for 3 months. The main outcome, pain intensity, was measured using the numerical rating scale (NRS). Improvement was defined as a decrease in NRS of ≥ 2 or less than moderate (NRS < 4).

Results: The analysis included 7 of 8 cases in the Ex+TrPAcp group and 7 of 7 cases in the Ex group. NRS improved in 6 of 7 and 1 of 7 patients in the intervention and control groups, respectively, with a significant difference between groups (p = 0.03, ϕ = 0.71). Regarding adverse events due to acupuncture, one patient (14.3%) complained of heaviness after acupuncture. Nothing specific was reported with exercise.

Conclusion: Compared with Ex alone, Ex+TrPAcp may be more effective therapy for older people with CLBP who do not have an exercise habit.

Background: Yamamoto New Scalp Acupuncture (YNSA) is a therapy based on the stimulation of points on the scalp and applied to treat different states of pain.

Objectives: To investigate the analgesic efficacy of YNSA for dogs undergoing radical unilateral mastectomy with ovariohysterectomy.

Methods: Twenty-four dogs were randomly distributed into two treatments (n = 12, per group): bilateral stimulation of basic B, D, and E points (YNSA group) and no application of acupuncture (control group). All dogs were sedated with morphine; anesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with isoflurane. Fentanyl was intraoperatively administered to control cardiovascular responses to surgical stimulation. Postoperative pain was assessed using an interactive visual analog scale (IVAS) and the short-form of the Glasgow Composite Pain Scale (CMPS-SF). Morphine was administered as rescue analgesia. Data were analyzed using t-tests, Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Friedman test (p < 0.05).

Results: Intraoperatively, the number of dogs requiring supplemental analgesic and the number of doses of fentanyl were lower in the YNSA group than in the control group (p = 0.027-0.034). The IVAS pain scores recorded from 0.5 h to 1 h post-extubation in the YNSA group were lower than those in the control group (p = 0.021-0.023). Postoperative rescue analgesia and CMPS-SF pain scores did not differ between the groups.

Conclusion: YNSA decreases intraoperative fentanyl requirements and provides minimal postoperative analgesic benefits to dogs undergoing unilateral mastectomy with ovariohysterectomy.