Haemopneumothorax Related to Acupuncture

Tan, Kenneth Qiao Wei; Asmat, Atasha

doi:10.1136/acupmed-2014-010542

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Penetrating chest trauma such as acupuncture lacerates a blood vessel and causes trauma-related blood loss into the pleural cavity. 3 Sometimes haemothorax can be a major complication not due to acupuncture treatment but as a result of bleeding from insertion of a thoracic catheter (the differential diagnosis can be made by measuring the Hct and Hb levels of the pleural effusion).…”

Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture-Induced Haemothorax: A Rare Iatrogenic Complication of Acupuncture

Karavis¹,

Αrgyra

Segredos

et al. 2015

Acupunct Med

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This paper reports a rare iatrogenic complication of acupuncture-induced haemothorax and comments on the importance and need for special education of physicians and physiotherapists in order to apply safe and effective acupuncture treatment. A 37-year-old healthy woman had a session of acupuncture treatments for neck and right upper thoracic non-specific musculoskeletal pain, after which she gradually developed dyspnoea and chest discomfort. After some delay while trying other treatment, she was eventually transferred to the emergency department where a chest X-ray revealed a right pneumothorax and fluid collection. She was admitted to hospital and a chest tube inserted into the right hemithorax (under ultrasound guidance) drained 800 mL of bloody fluid (haematocrit (Hct) 17.8%) in 24 h and 1200 mL over the following 3 days. Her blood Hct fell from 39.0% to 30.8% and haemoglobin from 12.7 to 10.3 g/dL. The patient recovered completely and was discharged after 9 days of hospitalisation. When dyspnoea, chest pain and discomfort occur during or after an acupuncture treatment, the possibility of secondary (traumatic) pneumo- or haemopneumothorax should be considered and the patient should remain under careful observation (watchful waiting) for at least 48 h. To maximise the safety of acupuncture, specific training should be given for the safe use of acupuncture points of the anterior and posterior thoracic wall using dry needling, trigger point acupuncture or other advanced acupuncture techniques.

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Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture-Induced Haemothorax: A Rare Iatrogenic Complication of Acupuncture

Karavis¹,

Αrgyra

Segredos

et al. 2015

Acupunct Med

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“…The pathophysiology of haemopneumothorax in this case is mainly due to trauma following the needle insertion into the chest wall and the lung parenchyma which might have traumatised the vascular bundle 7. These cause air leak and blood to ooze into the pleural cavity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Bilateral tension pneumothorax after acupuncture

Mohammad

2018

BMJ Case Reports

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Acupuncture is an ancient complementary medicine which is currently used worldwide. Many serious adverse events have been reported which include a spectrum of mild-to-fatal complications. However, the level of awareness with regard to complications is still low both to physicians and patients. We report a 63-year-old who presented with acute shortness of breath 2 hours after having had acupuncture. On examination, there was absent breath sound heard on the left lung and slightly reduced breath sound on the right lung. She had type 1 respiratory failure. Urgent chest radiograph confirmed bilateral pneumothorax which was more severe on the left with tension pneumothorax and mediastinal shift. Chest tubes were inserted bilaterally after failed needle aspiration attempts. Subsequently, the pneumothoraces resolved, and she was discharged well. The bilateral pneumothoraces caused by acupuncture were curable but could have been potentially fatal if diagnosis was delayed. This case report adds to the limited current literature on the complications of acupuncture leading to bilateral pneumothoraces.

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