RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the pain-relief efficacy of thermal stimulation induced by a pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) thermal stimulation applied to acupoints (APs) in patients with low back pain (LBP). The study was designed as a randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Methods. Fifty-six LBP patients whose minimum pain intensity score on a visual analogue scale (VAS, 0-100 mm) was more than 30 mm were randomly allocated to either the placebo-controlled or the treatment group at a 1:1 ratio. The treatment and placebo-controlled groups received PRF thermal stimulation plus cupping therapy and cupping therapy only, respectively. Each patient was scheduled to receive a total of three treatment sessions over one week with allowing a window up to 4 days. Six of the 13 predefined APs were selected differently for each session depending on the change in patient's symptoms and intensity of pain. The primary outcome was the mean difference between the placebo-controlled and treatment group of VAS changes from the baseline to the end of the follow-up period. RESULTS: The patients' reported VAS scores from baseline to the end of follow-up (average: 9.8 days) were significantly decreased by 8.036 points (two-sided 95% CI, -11.841 to -4.231) and 13.393 points (two-sided 95% CI: 17.198 to -9.588) in the treatment and the placebo-controlled groups, respectively. However, the change in VAS scores between the treatment group and the placebo-controlled group was not significantly different (2.015 mm, two-sided 95% CI: -5.288 to 9.317). CONCLUSION: The trial results indicated that treatment with either PRF thermal stimulation with cupping therapy or cupping therapy alone effectively relieved LBP. The efficacy of PRF thermal stimulation combined with cupping therapy was not superior to that of cupping therapy alone. Trial registration number: Clinical Research Information Service (KCT0002137). The trial was registered retrospectively on 10 November, 2016.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Acupuncture is a relatively safe, commonly used "alternative" medical treatment for various symptoms. However, adverse effects can occur, including trauma, pneumothorax, and central-nervous-system injury. Our objective was to develop a reliable and practical procedure for ultrasound imaging of acupuncture points to improve safety during needling, and to acquire ultrasound images of several (44) acupuncture points, especially those in high-risk areas, according to an in-house standard operating procedure. METHODS: We created the standard operating procedure for ultrasound imaging for acupuncture, and collected ultrasound images of acupuncture points in clinical trials. RESULTS: Ultrasound images for 44 acupuncture points considered as high-risk points were collected from 85 healthy people who were classified by body-mass index, and high-quality, clear representative images of all 44 points were obtained. CONCLUSION: These baseline images could be helpful for understanding the anatomy under the skin at acupuncture points, which would allow for an enhanced safety and more accurate needling.
RESUMEN
Noninvasive radial artery pulse wave has been widely not only for the pulse wave analysis (PWA) itself but also for assessment of arterial stiffness with estimated aortic pulse wave from peripheral pulse wave. In this study, we tested the differences between the extracted parameters, including AIx, from radial artery pulse waves measured at three different positions preliminarily. A 30 years old female involved in this experiment and this subject has no evidence about cardiovascular diseases. Radial pulse waves were recorded at three different positions on left lower arm ten times for each position. These positions are widely used in pulse diagnosis of traditional medicine.As results of repeated measures ANOVA analysis, 9 parameters were found which had significantly differences in between measuring positions (P<0.05). These parameters wereP_AIx, PP_Amp, A_T1, A_Tr, AIx, AIx_@HR75, ESP, MP_Sysand MP_Dia. And, by Spearman correlation test at P2, it was observed that P_AIx (r =0.894), PP_Amp (r=-0.765),AIx_@HR75 (r=0.929), ESP (r=0.893) and MP_Dia (r=0.792)were highly correlated with AIx. Elaborately, the correlation coefficients between each parameter were high in similar degrees (r>0.70).Further studies on what make differences in these parameters between measuring positions are need. And, ultimately, we need to determine the best measuring process, including measuring position, hold-down pressure, signal quality validation and so on,so to achieve the optimal waveform which represents subject's health condition for both western medicine and traditional medicine.