Somatic and Abdominal Acupuncture for Pain Treatment in Adolescent Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) of the Upper Limb: A Case Report

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is still poorly understood. It is a pain disorder in which pain is disproportionate to the initial stimulus. There is no specific therapy for CRPS, but it can be managed by a combination of treatments. We report a 13-year-old girl with CRPS of the upper limb treated with somatic and abdominal acupuncture. She described a severe, pulsating pain in the left wrist and hand, with hypersensitivity, allodynia, a marked reduction in strength, and swelling and sweating at the level of the fingers. Pain began three months previously, after a trauma to the left wrist. The diagnostic tests performed were negative. At the first visit we recommended oral tramadol. During the first two sessions we used somatic acupuncture. At the third session, the girl reported suffering intolerable pain in the affected limb during the previous sessions, so we decided to use abdominal acupuncture. After 8 sessions of abdominal acupuncture the pain completely disappeared. Acupuncture could be a potential alternative when conservative therapy with physical and medical treatment fails, but more often parents and adolescents prefer this therapy since other comorbidities are often present in pediatric populations and abdominal acupuncture could be a valuable alternative aid.

Abdominal Acupuncture as an Adjunctive Therapy for the Recovery of Motor Function After Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Bo's abdominal acupuncture (BAA) is a novel therapy in alternative and complementary medicine and has been frequently used for stroke recovery in recent decades. However, no systematic evidence has been performed to confirm the effect and safety of BAA as an adjunctive therapy for post-stroke motor dysfunction (PSMD).Objectives: This review aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of BAA as an adjunctive therapy for improving allover motor function, upper limb motor function, lower limb motor function, and activities of daily living (ADL) in patients with PSMD.Methods: Seven databases were searched from inception to December 2020: Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Chinese Biological Medicine Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, WAN FANG, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving BAA plus another therapy vs. the same other therapy alone were identified. The methodological quality of the included trials was assessed according to the Cochrane risk of bias criteria. If more than half of the domains in a study are at low risk of bias, the overall quality of the study is low risk. We conducted a meta-analysis for primary outcomes using a random effects model and performed a narrative summary for the secondary outcome. We also conducted subgroup analysis for primary outcomes based on different add-on treatments to BAA. Random effects and fixed effects models were used to test the robustness of the pooled data. We also tested the robustness of the meta-analysis using specific methodological variables that could affect primary outcome measures.Results:Twenty-one trials with 1,473 patients were included in this systematic review. The overall quality of the 14 included trials (66.7%) was low risk. Meta-analyses indicated that the effect of the BAA group was better than that of the non-EA group on the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale (FMA) (weight mean difference (WMD) 9.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7.23 to 11.83, P < 0.00001), FMA for upper extremities (WMD 11.08, 95% CI 5.83 to 16.32, P < 0.0001), FMA for lower extremities (WMD 5.57, 95% CI 2.61 to 8.54, P = 0.0002), and modified Barthel Index (standardized mean difference (SMD) 1.02, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.39, P < 0.00001). Two trials (9.5%) reported BAA-related adverse events, and the most common adverse event was local subcutaneous ecchymosis.Conclusions: BAA as an adjunctive therapy may have clinical benefits for improving allover motor function, upper limb motor function, lower limb motor function, and ADL in patients with PSMD. BAA-related adverse events were rare, tolerable, and recoverable. However, our review findings should be interpreted with caution because of the methodological weaknesses in the included trials. High-quality trials are needed to assess the adjunctive role of BAA in patients with PSMD.

Treatment of Intractable Hiccup with Abdominal Acupuncture

Abdominal acupuncture is an emergent Chinese acupuncture treatment method growing in popularity in the last 50 years. The method is based on the congenital meridian pathways from fetal development. The method is not time consuming and painless.

Treatment of Intractable Hiccup with Abdominal Acupuncture

Abdominal acupuncture is an emergent Chinese acupuncture treatment method growing in popularity in the last 50 years. The method is based on the congenital meridian pathways from fetal development. The method is not time consuming and painless.