Effects of acupuncture therapy on 83 cases of infants with night terrors / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

[Objective] For six consecutive years, we investigated 83 cases of the effect of acupuncture therapy on children with night terrors.[Subjects and Methods] The number of subjects was 83 (38 boys and 45 girls, mean age: 2.2 ± 2.8 years old). Acupuncture therapy for infants was defined as pattern identification/syndrome differentiation and treatment. The acupuncture therapy used spoon needles and moxibustion; skin stimulation was applied to the acupuncture point. Infant needles in the Daishi style and moxibustion of the incense stick were used as a method to approach the hole. Therapeutic effect was judged by a self-written evaluation form certified by the Japan Society of Pediatric Acupuncture. One major item, "sleep disorder (broad sense of night terrors)," three minor items ('night terror' in a narrower sense), 'difficulty in falling asleep,' 'nocturnal awakening,' number of nocturnal awakenings at night, and satisfaction with acupuncture therapy in infants were investigated. Evaluations were made at the time of the first treatment and before the fifth treatment. In the statistical analysis, the change in the score of the evaluation slip and the number of partial awakenings were tested by the Wilcoxon signed-rank-sum test. The level of significance was set at 5%.[Results] Significant improvement was observed in the score for the major item, minor items, and number of partial awakenings. The degree of satisfaction was 90.4%.[Conclusion] It was suggested that acupuncture therapy in infants is effective for ameliorating symptoms of "sleep disorder."

Effect of acupuncture treatment on menstrual disorders / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

[Objective]Menstrual disorders are generic symptoms that appear during a menstrual cycle. In this study we examined three years of medical records retrospectively in order to investigate the effects of acupuncture treatment on menstrual disorders. We compared a group of women with diseases 'D'with to no diseases 'N'with respect to the effects of short-term acupuncture treatment.<BR>[Methodology]Subjects for this research were 203women with menstrual disorders who came to our office during the period January 2009 -March 2012. The only treatment they were given was traditional Chinese medicine. We used BL 32, BL 35, GV 2, GV 4, and SP 6 as acupuncture points. We inserted stainless steel acupuncture needles (40 mm long, 1.8 mm in diameter) to a depth of 20 mm at BL 32 and 10 mm at SP 6. Other points were treated three times with kyubu-moxibution (burnt 90%). Treatment was provided once every 1-2 weeks. A Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) was used to judge treatment effectiveness. We classified the 203women into two groups;one was 'D'group (n = 46) and the other was 'N'group (n = 157). Concerning the eight items from the MDQ we compared each woman's condition before the first treatment after one menstrual cycle. This time we paid attention to premenstrual and menstrual periods. 'D'group was observed through three menstrual cycles.<BR>[Results]The average number of treatments during one menstrual cycle was 2.2. Both groups had reduced scores for 6 prementstrual symptoms (p < 0.05). During menstrual period, 'D'had reduced scores for 3items, 'N'had reduced scores for 5 items;(p < 0.05). 'D'confirmed continuous effects of treatment. The effects on premenstrual symptoms were confirmed, "Pain"during all three menstrual cycles, "Water retention"during the second and third menstrual cycles, and "Concentration"during the third menstrual cycle. The effects during the menstrual period were also confirmed, "Pain"for all three menstrual cycles, and "Water retention"and "Behavioral change"during the third menstrual period (p < 0.05).<BR>[Discussion]Concerning the effects of acupuncture treatment for menstrual disorders, 'D'had higher MDQ scores than 'N'. After one menstrual cycle, 'D'showed less improvement of MDQ items than 'N'. But continuous acupuncture treatments reduced menstrual disorder symptoms for 'D'.<BR>[Conclusion]We have confirmed the effects of acupuncture treatment on menstrual cycle symptoms. In one menstrual cycle, 'N'showed more improvement than 'D'. But during three menstrual cycles 'N'experienced continuous effects of treatment.

A case of lung cancer who received intrathecal catheter implantation to relieve intractable cancer pain and opioid-induced delirium

<b>Introduction</b>: We described a patient with lung cancer who suffered from severe pain due to pelvic bone metastasis and opioid-induced delirium. Induction of subarachnoid analgesia using implanted intrathecal catheter almost abolished his pain and enable home palliative care. <b>Case description</b>: Seventy-year old man was admitted for intractable leg and hip pain due to pelvic bone metastasis and delirium induced by opioid. Although he was initially administered continuous subcutaneous morphine injection for opioid titration, delirium was deteriorated. Opioid rotation to oxycodone and increase in antipsychotic drugs could not improve his delirium. Epidural analgesia with local anesthetic and small dose of morphine improve his delirium with adequate analgesic effect. Finally, he was received intrathecal catheter implantation and discharged to home palliative care. <b>Conclusion</b>: Neuraxial analgesia may provide not only sufficient analgesia but also lower risk of delirium in patient who was administered high dose of opioids because of intractable cancer pain.