Electroacupuncture for Temporomandibular Disorders: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Although electroacupuncture (EA) is an effective treatment for pain relief, there has been no systematic review of EA treatment for temporomandibular disorder TMD. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of EA in TMD management. We searched 14 databases until April 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effects of EA on TMDs. Eleven RCTs with 667 patients that used three acupuncture points (ST6, ST7, and LI4) were included. Two RCTs reported significant effects of EA plus microwave treatment compared with EA treatment alone on the total effectiveness rate (TER) for TMD. Further, two studies reported that compared with ultrashort wave alone, EA plus ultrashort wave had a significant effect on the TER for TMD and visual analog scale. All RCTs did not report adverse events. Our findings demonstrated the positive potential of EA in TMD management. However, there was weak evidence regarding EA use for TMD management given the poor quality and small sample sizes of the included studies. In the future, well-designed RCTs are required. It is necessary to investigate clinical trials and systematic reviews to compare the effectiveness and safety of EA and acupuncture for TMD.

Preventive effect and possible mechanisms of ultrashort wave diathermy on myogenic contracture in a rabbit model

The purpose of this study was to determine the preventive effect of ultrashort wave diathermy on immobilization-induced myogenic contracture and to explore its underlying mechanisms. Forty-two rabbits were randomly assigned into control (Group C), immobilization (Group I, which was further divided into one week, Group I-1; two weeks, Group I-2; and four weeks, Group I-4, subgroups by the length of immobilization) and ultrashort wave prevention (Group U, which was further divided into one week, Group U-1; two weeks, Group U-2; and four weeks, Group U-4, by time of treatment) groups. Intervention effects were assessed by evaluating rectus femoris cross-sectional area (CSA), knee range of motion, and the protein levels for myogenic differentiation (MyoD) and muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx-1) in the rectus femoris. Compared with those of Group C, in Groups I and U, total contracture, myogenic contracture, MyoD and MAFbx-1 levels were significantly elevated, and CSA was significantly smaller ( p < 0.05). Compared with those of Group I at each time point, MyoD levels were significantly elevated, MAFbx-1 levels were significantly lower, CSA was significantly larger, and myogenic contracture was significantly alleviated in Group U ( p < 0.05). In the early stages of contracture, ultrashort wave diathermy reduces muscle atrophy and delays the process of myogenic contracture during joint immobilization; the mechanism of this may be explained as increased expression of MyoD triggered by suppression of the MAFbx-1-mediated ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

Changes in serum inflammatory factors in acute gouty arthritis patients treated using ultrashort wave combined with loxoprofen sodium

Objectives: To study the effect of ultrashort wave combined with loxoprofen sodium on serum inflammatory factors in patients with acute gouty arthritis. Methods: Records of patients with acute gouty arthritis who were treated in The Fourth Hospital of Changsha from May 2018 to September 2020, were reviewed. Of them, 77 cases were selected and divided into two groups based on the received treatment. The control group (n=39) was treated with loxoprofen sodium, and the treatment group (n=38) was treated with an ultrashort wave combined with loxoprofen sodium, for 10 continuous days. The clinical efficacy of the treatment in two groups was analyzed. Results: After treatment, the quality of life of patients in both groups was improved (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the degree of improvement between the two groups (P > 0.05). After treatment, the VAS score of the treatment group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05), the improvement of symptoms and signs of the treatment group was better than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Serum CRP and ESR levels in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05), and the serum IL-1 β, IL-8, TNF-a and MMP-3 levels of the treatment group were lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The total effective rate of the treatment group (94.87%) was slightly higher than that of the control group (89.47%), but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). No adverse reactions occurred in all patients during the treatment. Conclusion: An ultrashort wave combined with loxoprofen sodium in the treatment of acute gouty arthritis can reduce the inflammatory reaction, improve the degree of joint pain and swelling, improve the curative effect, and do not increase the adverse reactions. The results may be related to the regulation of IL-1 β, IL-8, TNF-a and MMP-3. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.7.4765 How to cite this:Wu Y, Wang Y, Yuan W, Xiao X, Cheng G. Changes in serum inflammatory factors in acute gouty arthritis patients treated using ultrashort wave combined with loxoprofen sodium. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(7):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.7.4765 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.