The Effect of Acupuncture on Elbow Joint Sports Injuries Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract

Purpose. Elbow joint injuries are extremely common in most athletes. Athletes’ chronic elbow injuries can involve multiple complex anatomical structures related to orthopedics. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore the characteristics of magnetic resonance (MR) images of chronic sports injuries of the elbow joint and the influence of acupuncture treatment on MR images and clinical symptoms. Methods. A total of 60 elbow joints of 39 athletes from 15-25 years old were selected for coronal, sagittal, and axial MR scans to observe the image characteristics; 60 elbow joints were randomly divided into acupuncture group and control group and observed changes in MR images and clinical symptoms after acupuncture treatment. Results. After acupuncture treatment, the clinical symptoms were significantly improved. MR images showed that the elbow joint effusion was reduced, and the bone marrow edema was reduced. The effective rate of acupuncture treatment is as high as 100%, while the effective rate of the control group is only 40%. Acupuncture treatment has significantly improved the range of motion of the elbow joint. Conclusion. Acupuncture treatment can significantly relieve athletes’ elbow joint pain and locking symptoms, improve joint range of motion, and is beneficial to recovery of special training and high-level competitive competitions. It is a sensitive, effective, and noninvasive method.

Acupuncture in Sports Medicine

“…They examined 30 injured elbow joints of athletes in sports such as gymnastics, tennis, weightlifting, table tennis, judo, basketball, and badminton treated with acupuncture and compared them to 30 elbow joints exhibiting similar symptoms that were treated with rest alone. The acupuncture group demonstrated marked improvements in joint mobility, swelling, and VAS, achieving a striking 100% rate of improvement, in contrast to the 40% rate observed in the control group [27].…”

“…Thus, it is no surprise that athletes across various disciplines and competition levels have benefited from acupuncture therapy. These benefits encompass enhanced joint mobility and explosive force production, reduced competition anxiety and pain scores, and, in some instances, improvements in physiologic and kinetic parameters [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. However, conflicting evidence in the literature has yielded mixed results regarding the improvement of muscle strength, muscle recovery, and other physiologic parameters through acupuncture intervention; thus, relying solely on acupuncture for improving performance and facilitating recovery is not recommended [25,29,30,34,35].…”

“…Wu et al [23] observed a reduction in swelling at the injury site, measured in centimeters, between days 7 and 14 post-intervention in patients who underwent combined therapy as opposed to those who received either Western therapy or acupuncture alone (p < 0.01). Yang and Wang [27] compared elbow joint effusion and swelling reduction using magnetic resonance imaging. They examined 30 injured elbow joints of athletes in sports such as gymnastics, tennis, weightlifting, table tennis, judo, basketball, and badminton treated with acupuncture and compared them to 30 elbow joints exhibiting similar symptoms that were treated with rest alone.…”

Domestic Clinical Research Trends of Motion-Style Acupuncture Treatment: A Scoping Review

“…료 효과를 나타내며 1) , 근골격계 질환에서는 통증을 완 화하고, 관절 가동범위를 개선하여 환자의 삶의 질을 높 여주는 효과가 있다 [2][3][4] . 최근에는 조작 방법을 발전시켜 전통 침술에 전기 치료, 열 자극, 약물 치료 등을 접목시 킨 전침 5) , 화침 6) , 매선 요법 7) , 약침 8) 등이 개발되어 임 상에서 응용되고 있다.…”