Acupuncture

Published on 22/05/2015 by admin

Filed under Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Last modified 22/04/2025

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Chapter 52 Acupuncture

OVERVIEW.

Acupuncture, a traditional form of Chinese medicine, involves the insertion of fine needles through the skin and into strategic body points along meridians, for a desired therapeutic or preventive effect. Some of its uses include pain relief and anesthesia induction.¹

SUMMARY: CONTRAINDICATIONS AND PRECAUTIONS.

Three sources cited a total of 37 concerns for acupuncture. Concerns ranged from 3 to 24 per source, with the World Health Organization (WHO) citing the largest number. The largest proportion of concerns is related to puncturing vulnerable biological tissue (31%) or introducing infections (procedural issues). The most frequently cited concerns (two or more) involved bleeding disorders, pregnancy (miscarriages), and penetrating vulnerable body regions such as the supraclavicular fossa area where lung puncture and pneumothorax can occur.

PROCEDURAL CONCERNS

Electroacupuncture

ADVERSE EVENTS

1 Eisenberg MG. Dictionary of rehabilitation. New York: Springer, 1995.

2 Tan JC. Practical manual of physical medicine and rehabilitation: diagnostics, therapeutics, and basic problems. St Louis: Mosby, 1998.

3 World Health Organization. Guidelines on basic training and safety in acupuncture, WHO/EDM; 1999. Available at: http://www.who.int/medicine/en. Accessed December 4, 2005

4 Pearce L. Acupuncture and related therapies. In: Charman RA, editor. Complementary therapies for physical therapists. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000.

5 White A, Hayhoe S, Hart A, et al. Survey of adverse events following acupuncture (SAFA): a prospective study of 32,00 consultations. Acupunct Med. 2001;19(2):84-92.

6 Saw A, Kwan MK, Sengupta S. Necrotising fasciitis: a life-threatening complication of acupuncture in a patient with diabetes mellitus. Singapore Med J. 2004;45(4):180-182.

7 Ogata M, Kitamura O, Kubo S, et al. An asthmatic death while under Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion treatment. Am J Forens Med Pathol. 1992;13(4):338-341.

8 Peuker E. Case report of tension pneumothorax related to acupuncture. Acupunct Med. 2004;22(1):40-43.

9 Halvorsen TB, Anda SS, Naess AB, et al. Fatal cardiac tamponade after acupuncture through congenital sternal foramen. Lancet. 1995;345:1175.

10 Schiff AF. A fatality due to acupuncture. Med Times. 1965;93(6):630-631.

11 Pierik MG. Fatal staphylococcal septicemia following acupuncture: report of two cases. R I Med J. 1982;65:251-253.

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