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      Adverse Events of Acupuncture: A Systematic Review of Case Reports

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          Abstract

          Acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping, important in traditional Eastern medicine, are increasingly used in the West. Their widening acceptance demands continual safety assessment. This review, a sequel to one our team published 10 years ago, is an evaluation of the frequency and severity of adverse events (AEs) reported for acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping between 2000 and 2011. Relevant English-language reports in six databases were identified and assessed by two reviewers. During this 12-year period, 117 reports of 308 AEs from 25 countries and regions were associated with acupuncture (294 cases), moxibustion (4 cases), or cupping (10 cases). Country of occurrence, patient's sex and age, and outcome were extracted. Infections, mycobacterial, staphylococcal, and others, were the main complication of acupuncture. In the previous review, we found the main source of infection to be hepatitis, caused by reusable needles. In this review, we found the majority of infections to be bacterial, caused by skin contact at acupoint sites; we found no cases of hepatitis. Although the route of infection had changed, infections were still the major complication of acupuncture. Clearly, guidelines such as Clean Needle Technique must be followed in order to minimize acupuncture AEs.

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          Most cited references155

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          Safety of acupuncture: results of a prospective observational study with 229,230 patients and introduction of a medical information and consent form.

          To evaluate the safety of acupuncture in a large number of patients receiving conventional health care and, based on these results, to develop a new medical consent form for acupuncture. The prospective observational study included patients who received acupuncture treatment for chronic osteoarthritis pain of the knee or hip, low back pain, neck pain or headache, allergic rhinitis, asthma, or dysmenorrhoea. After treatment, all patients documented adverse events associated with acupuncture (defined as adverse effects). Patients who reported a need for treatment due to an adverse effect completed an additional standardised questionnaire on the most important adverse effect. Based on this data and considering ethical and legal aspects a new consent form was developed. A total of 229,230 patients received on average 10.2 +/- 3.0 acupuncture treatments. Altogether, 19,726 patients (8.6%) reported experiencing at least one adverse effect and 4,963 (2.2%) reported one which required treatment. Common adverse effects were bleedings or haematoma (6.1% of patients, 58% of all adverse effects), pain (1.7%) and vegetative symptoms (0.7%). Two patients experienced a pneumothorax (one needed hospital treatment, the other observation only). The longest duration of a side effect was 180 days (nerve lesion of the lower limb). The resulting medical consent form consists of five modules: Introduction to acupuncture and moxibustion, Risks of acupuncture treatment, Conditions which can increase the risk, Doctor's statement, and Consent. Acupuncture provided by physicians is a relatively safe treatment and the proposed consent form could support both patients and professionals in the process of obtaining informed consent. Copyright (c) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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            Costs of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and frequency of visits to CAM practitioners: United States, 2007.

            This report presents selected estimates of costs of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among U.S. adults, the frequency of visits made to CAM providers, and the frequency of purchases of self-care CAM therapies. Data from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, are used in this report. Estimates were derived from the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Supplement of the 2007 NHIS, sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. Estimates were generated using the SUDAAN statistical package to account for the NHIS complex sample design. In 2007, adults in the United States spent $33.9 billion out of pocket on visits to CAM practitioners and purchases of CAM products, classes, and materials. Nearly two-thirds of the total out-of-pocket costs that adults spent on CAM were for self-care purchases of CAM products, classes, and materials during the past 12 months ($22.0 billion), compared with about one-third spent on practitioner visits ($11.9 billion). Despite this emphasis on self-care therapies, 38.1 million adults made an estimated 354.2 million visits to practitioners of CAM. About three-quarters of both visits to CAM practitioners and total out-of-pocket costs spent on CAM practitioners were associated with manipulative and body-based therapies. A total of 44% of all out-of-pocket costs for CAM, or about $14.8 billion, was spent on the purchase of nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products.
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              The York acupuncture safety study: prospective survey of 34 000 treatments by traditional acupuncturists.

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
                Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
                ECAM
                Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM
                Hindawi Publishing Corporation
                1741-427X
                1741-4288
                2013
                20 March 2013
                20 March 2013
                : 2013
                : 581203
                Affiliations
                1Acupuncture Department, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200071, China
                2Center for Integrative Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, East Hall, 520 W. Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
                3College of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
                4Department of Integrative Medicine, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai 200030, China
                Author notes

                Academic Editor: Jaung-Geng Lin

                Article
                10.1155/2013/581203
                3616356
                23573135
                0a3b2cb9-6412-4a19-a346-ec4491ad43e4
                Copyright © 2013 Shifen Xu et al.

                This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 23 December 2012
                : 8 February 2013
                Categories
                Review Article

                Complementary & Alternative medicine
                Complementary & Alternative medicine

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