Background: Recently, Korean Medicine treatment with pharmacopuncture therapy (PPT) has been increasingly used in clinical practice to improve symptoms in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of PPT in addition to conventional Korean Medicine treatment (CKMT) for the treatment of patients with LSS, compared with CKMT alone. Methods: This study is designed as a pragmatic, randomized, two-armed, parallel, stratified (by sex), controlled pilot trial. Forty patients diagnosed with LSS will be randomly allocated to the PPT + CKMT group or the CKMT group. Patients in the two groups will receive treatment two times weekly for 5 weeks. The primary outcome will be the mean change in the 100-mm visual analog scale score from the baseline to the end of treatment (week 5). The secondary outcomes will include the clinically important difference, Zurich Claudication Questionnaire score, self-reported walking capacity, Modified-Modified Schober test, EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level questionnaire, and Patients' Global Impression of Change. Adverse events will be assessed at each visit. Discussion: The results of this study will provide meaningful data to evaluate the add-on effect and safety of PPT in the medical care of patients with LSS.

Gold thread therapy (GTT) continuously stimulates acupoints and is used to treat chronic conditions/diseases such as chronic lumbar pain. During the procedure gold thread is embedded into the skin and although gold thread is medically pure, GTT is an irreversible treatment where there is limited evidence on its safety. Here, we report a case of a 79-year-old woman being treated for low back pain who developed side effects following moving cupping therapy at a site of GTT (performed in the 1970s). Adverse reactions causing radiating pain persisted more than at least 9 days following moving cupping therapy. The symptoms of pain were evaluated using the numerical rating scale, and changes in tenderness and the state of bruising was recorded. Low back pain improved but the radiating low leg pain did not improve. This case highlights the need for caution when performing moving cupping therapy where GTT has been previously performed.

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Moving cupping has gained popularity as a complementary therapy for managing CLBP owing to its noninvasive and cost-effective nature. However, the lack of objective measures to assess its therapeutic effect has been a considerable challenge in evaluating the effectiveness of moving cupping for CLBP management. Methods: We developed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) protocol for evaluating the effectiveness of a noninvasive treatment using moving cupping by assessing muscle relaxation with shear wave elastography (SWE). It involves the recruitment of 68 patients with CLBP and randomly assigns them to either the treatment or control group. The treatment group will receive moving cupping therapy for 2 weeks, while the control group will receive placebo treatment. It will utilize SWE to evaluate muscle relaxation at baseline, after 2 weeks of treatment, and 1 week after the end of treatment. Subjective reports of pain intensity and quality of life are also recorded at each time point. Discussion: The protocol developed here utilizes SWE to objectively measure muscle stiffness, and coupled with moving cupping therapy, may be effective in conveying relative comparisons before and after treatment. Moving cupping therapy is expected to promote muscle relaxation and pain relief in patients with CLBP. This study has the potential to contribute to the development of objective measures for evaluating the therapeutic effects of traditional therapies and to provide valuable insight into their efficacy.

This study aimed to report the effect of moving cupping therapy (MCT) on peripheral facial palsy (PFP). Four patients with PFP treated with MCT combined with integrative Korean medicine treatment (KMT). Patients were hospitalized for < 17 days. House-Brackmann Grading System (HBGS), Yanagihara grading score (Y-score), and Sunnybrook Facial Grading System (SBGS) were used to assess the changes during treatment periods, and facial photos were taken at admission, interim, and discharge. Facial paralysis symptoms and HBGS grades improved in all patients (Patient 1: HBGS of IV to II; Patient 2: HBGS of V to III; Patient 3: HBGS of IV to II; Patient 4: HBGS of IV to II) following an average of 14.5 days of treatment. The mean (± standard deviation) Y-scores and SBGS scores also increased (Δ[Y-score]: 13.75 ± 3.50 and Δ[SBGS]: 40.00 ± 13.11) from baseline to end of treatment. These findings suggest the clinical effectiveness of MCT combined with integrative KMT in treating patients with PFP.

부산대학교 한의학전문대학원 한의학과 임상의학교실Peripheral facial palsy generally results from damage to the facial nerve. As facial asymmetry is observed, it accompanies not only functional problems but also psychological and social difficulties. Medical institutions treat most patients, however, there are still patients who rely on invasive methods by unqualified practitioners for fear of sequelae. This case describes a 61-year-old woman who experienced facial palsy twice. She visited our hospital with skin damage after folk patch therapy for her facial palsy. Combined Korean medicine treatment was administered during treatment period. After treatments, the symptoms of facial palsy and skin lesions improved. This case showed that Korean Medicine was efficacious in improving symptoms of facial palsy with damaged skin caused by folk patch therapy. Education and awareness of uncontrolled invasive treatments for facial palsy are needed.