Safety of Acupuncture and Pharmacopuncture in 80,523 Musculoskeletal Disorder Patients

Abstract

We investigated the range and frequency of significant adverse events (AEs) in use of pharmacopuncture and acupuncture using large-scale, single-center safety data as evidence supporting safety of acupuncture with pharmacopuncture, used extensively in Asia, is scarce. Status reports (nurse records in ambulatory and inpatient care units, and administrative event records) as a part of an internal audit at a Korean Medicine hospital specializing in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders, patient complaints filed through the hospital website, and medical records of patients visiting from December, 2010 (inception of internal audit) to October, 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. A total 80,523 patients (5966 inpatients and 74,557 outpatients) visited during this period. Inpatients received an average 31.9 ± 20.7 acupuncture, 23.0 ± 15.6 pharmacopuncture, and 15.4 ± 11.3 bee venom pharmacopuncture sessions, and outpatients were administered 8.2 ± 12.2 acupuncture, 7.8 ± 11.5 pharmacopuncture, and 10.0 ± 12.3 bee venom sessions, respectively. AEs associated with acupuncture/pharmacopuncture were forgotten needle (n = 47), hypersensitivity to bee venom (n = 37), presyncopic episode (n = 4), pneumothorax (n = 4), and infection (n = 2). Most cases were mild requiring little or no additional intervention and leaving no sequelae. Although serious AEs including infection (n = 2) and anaphylaxis associated with bee venom treatment (n = 3) were also reported, incidence was rare at 0.002% in infection and 0.019% in anaphylaxis. Incidence of AEs associated with acupuncture/pharmacopuncture treatment was low, and most cases were not serious. Still, however rare, avoidable AEs can and should be prevented through education and corrective action. Further prospective studies on the effect of error reduction strategies on incidence of adverse effects are warranted.

Infectious Adverse Events Following Acupuncture: Clinical Progress and Microbiological Etiology

“…Recent studies about AEs of acupuncture performed by regulated and qualified acupuncturists revealed the low incidence of serious AEs that could be fully recovered with adequate treatment. 6 14 15 By contrast to the results of these studies, 9 (18.8%) of 48 patients in our study presented with serious AEs including development of septic shock, admission to ICU admission and suffering permanent sequelae, and consequently they required long-term hospitalization, including ICU care. This difference may reflect the real-world situation.…”

Clinical Applications of Bee Venom Acupoint Injection

“…It is composed of different peptides, proteins, and bioactive components, including melittin, phospholipase A2 (PLA2), and apamin [ 3 ]. These components have various pharmaceutical properties, including anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive [ 4 , 5 ], antiapoptosis, antiarthritic [ 6 ], and anticancer effects [ 1 , 2 , 7 ].…”

“…BV therapy has been used for a long time [ 1 ] in various forms including the administration of live bee stings, the injection of BV, and BV acupuncture (BVA) [ 8 ]. Despite its clinical complications, toxicity or anaphylaxis, it is a safe form of acupuncture [ 6 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] and it has interesting pharmacological properties from a biotechnological point of view. Due to the bioactive compounds isolated from BV and its pharmacological actions, BVA is an effective treatment that is commonly used.…”

Standardization of the Manufacturing Process of Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture Containing Melittin as the Active Ingredient

“…In one survey of patients who had visited oriental medicine hospitals, 48% of responders preferred pharmacopuncture to other oriental medicine treatments, because it caused a rapid decrease in pain [1, 2]. Moreover, the safety investigation suggested that acupuncture/pharmacopuncture led to a lower range, frequency, and severity of significant adverse events [3]. …”