Acupuncture for Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Retrospective Analysis of Medical Records

Jae Kyu Kim; Kun Hyung Kim; Seung Hee Noh; Yu Ri Kim

doi:10.13045/acupunct.2014032

J Acupunct Res > Volume 31(2); 2014 > Article

Kim, Kim, Noh, and Kim: Taegeuk Acupuncture for Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Retrospective Analysis of Medical Records※

Clinical Research

The Acupuncture 2014; 31(2): 145-152.

Published online: June 20, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13045/acupunct.2014032

Taegeuk Acupuncture for Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Retrospective Analysis of Medical Records^※

Jae Kyu Kim^1,^*, Kun Hyung Kim¹, Seung Hee Noh², Yu Ri Kim³

¹Division of Clinical Medicine, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University

²Department of Korean Medicine, Graduate School, Pusan National University

³Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Korean Medicine Hospital, Pusan National University

^*Corresponding author : Division of Clinical Medicine, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, 20, Geumo-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, 626-770, Republic of Korea, Tel : +82-55-360-5946 E-mail : kjk@pnu.kr

Received May 09, 2014 Revised May 28, 2014 Accepted June 04, 2014

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Abstract

Objectives:

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of Taegeuk acupuncture for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Methods:

A retrospective analysis of the electronic medical records of Pusan National University Korean Medicine Hospital from March 2012 to March 2013 was performed. Eligible cases were outpatients who had received at least six sessions of Taegeuk acupuncture for their pain and had agreed to the use of their medical records for research purposes. Pain levels, heart rate variability, and patients’ perceptions of the safety of acupuncture were investigated through the medical records and follow-up telephone interviews.

Results:

Fifteen cases were selected for analysis. All had suffered from musculoskeletal pain for at least one year. After six sessions of Taegeuk acupuncture, the average score on the pain numeric rating scale decreased from 6.7±2.0 to 2.9±2.2(a 43 % reduction). Follow-up telephone interviews revealed that patients experienced no adverse event after Taegeuk acupuncture.

Conclusions:

Patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain showed a reduction of more than half of the baseline pain after six sessions of Taegeuk acupuncture. However, the beneficial effects observed in this retrospective analysis should be interpreted with caution due to selection and recall bias. Further randomized controlled trials of Taegeuk acupuncture for chronic musculoskeletal pain are warranted.

Key Words: Taegeuk acupuncture; Chronic pain; Heart rate variability; Retrospective study.

Notes

This work was supported by a 2-year research grant of Pusan National University

Fig. 1.

Areas of examination

Fig. 2.

Physical examination A

Tenderness on epigastric region.

Fig. 3.

Physical examination B

Light percussion for the test hepatic dullness sound on upper region.

Fig. 4.

Physical examination C

Light percussion for the test hepatic dullness sound on middle region.

Fig. 5.

Physical examination D

Light percussion for the test hepatic dullness sound on lower region.

Table 1.

Demographic characteristics of 15 patients

		Values
Age		56.2±9.9
Female		12(80 %)
Duration of symptoms(year)		6.9±4.9

Symptom classification	Low back pain	6
	Myofascial pain	6
	Knee pain	2
	Neck pain	1

Constitutional classification	So-Yang	12
	Tae-Eum	3
	Tai-Yang	0
	So-Eum	0

Comorbidity / past history	Hypertension	2
	Diabetes	2
	Cancer	3

Present pain intensity	Mild	3
	Moderate	5
	Severe	4
	Very severe	3

SF-36 bodily pain(0∼100 %)		37.5±24.4 %

Values are presented as number(%), mean±standard deviation or median(range).

Table 2.

Time and Frequency Domain of the Heart Rate Variability at Baseline

		Result(n=15)	Reference values from the literature (diabetes)(n=16)⁵⁾	Reference values from the literature (healthy control)(n=16)⁵⁾
Time domain	Heart rate(bpm)	69.4(10.4)	84.3(7.29)	66.2(10.2)
	SDNN(ms)	22.8(6.5)	15.3(14.7)	46.4(99.2)
	RMSSD(ms)	18.6(8.7)	16.0(19.2)	41.43(22.0)

Frequency domain	HF power(ms²)	64.1 [20.5, 320.6]	85.7(223.3)	260.7(237.2)
	LF power(ms²)	68.2 [19.4, 258.9]	55.0(123.1)	476.4(307.2)
	VLF power(ms²)	220.8 [45.3, 958.9]	49.2(85.3)	371.8(354.8)
	Normalized LF	53.5(23.0)	50.6(18.7)	68.5(10.2)
	Normalized HF	46.9(23.0)	49.3(18.7)	31.4(10.2)
	LF/HF ratio	1.1 [0.2, 8.5]	1.4(1.4)	2.5(1.3)

Total power		445.2(286.5)	-	-

Values are presented as mean(standard deviation) or median[range] based on normality of distribution.

Table 3.

Pain-related Outcomes at Baseline and Post-treatment

	Baseline (n=15)	Post-treatment (n=15)
NRS	6.7±2.0	2.9±2.2
Hepatic dullness	All areas presented	-
Partially resolved	-	10
Completely resolved	-	4

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