Acupotomy and venesection in Upper Limb Lymphedema and Peripheral neuropathy following Breast Cancer Surgery

Abstract

Purpose: In order to estimate clinical effects of acupotomy and venesection in a patient with peripheral neuropathy and upper limb lymphedema following breast cancer surgery.Methods: From female patient with peripheral neuropathy and upper limb lymphedema following breast cancer surgery was treated with general oriental medicine therapy(acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, physical therapy, herbal medication) and acupotomy with venesection. Results:The patient's chief complaints-Lt hand numbness, Lt arm edema, Lt. wrist flexion limitation -were notably improved. Conclusions :This study demonstrates that oriental medical treatment with acupotomy and venesection therapy has significant effect in improving symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and upper limb lymphedema following breast cancer surgery, as though we had not wide experience in this treatment, more research is needed.

Current evidence of acupuncture for symptoms related to breast cancer survivors

“…[ 12 – 20 ] Among these, 3 were case series, [ 13 , 14 , 19 ] 5 were single-case reports, [ 12 , 15 – 18 ] and only 1 was a RCT. [ 20 ] Three studies investigated lymphedema, [ 12 , 14 – 15 ] 2 investigated chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), [ 18 , 19 ] 1 investigated hot flushes, [ 13 ] 1 assessed constipation, [ 20 ] and 2 investigated miscellaneous symptoms (nausea, CIPN, dryness of mouth, etc., Table 1 ). [ 16 , 17 ] The excluded studies are listed in Supplementary 1.…”

“…Most studies involved manual acupuncture to treat the respective symptoms, [ 12 – 17 ] and only 1 study used electro-acupuncture. [ 15 ] One study adopted electric acupoint stimulation, [ 18 ] and another study used auricular acupressure by the patients’ own hands.…”

“…[ 20 ] In 1 study, both acupotomy and pharmacopuncture were used. [ 12 ] Treatment durations differed among the studies—from 12 days [ 12 ] to approximately 5 months (intermittent). [ 16 ] Most studies were observational studies, and only 1 study included a control group (Table 1 ).…”

Postoperative analgesic effect of acupotomy combined with patient-controlled intravenous analgesia in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…Acupotomy, widely used in Korea and China, a special form of acupuncture with characteristics of surgical procedures, is widely used for musculoskeletal conditions and is considered an excellent treatment for pain relief [19]. The analgesic effect of acupotomy has been recognized by many clinicians [20]. Moreover, in the previous preliminary experiments, we found that acupotomy has a good clinical effect and safety in the treatment of pain after thoracoscopic surgery.…”

<p>Acupotomy versus Manual Acupuncture for the Treatment of Back and/or Leg Pain in Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled, Assessor-Blinded Clinical Trial</p>

“…12,13 Consequently, acupotomy treatment has been applied for various musculoskeletal diseases [14][15][16][17][18][19] and some metabolic diseases such as lymphatic edema. 20 Although the effectiveness of acupotomy on LDH was suggested by several case reports and a pilot study, 13,[21][22][23] a more extensive confirmatory study was needed to confirm the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy on LDH.…”