A Review of the Korean Traditional Medicine Treatment for Meniscus Injury

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was review the current clinical studies about the effect of Korean traditional medicine treatment for meniscus injury.Methods: Clinical studies on Korean traditional medicine treatment of meniscus injury were searched through 11 online databases. We analyzed the authors, publication year, country, study design, subjects, treatment methods, treatment effects, evaluation tools and adverse events of the selected studies.Results: 23 studies which included 9 randomized controlled trials, 8 case reports, 4 retrospective observational studies, 2 non-randomized controlled trials were selected through the databases. A total of 9 Korean traditional medicine treatments were used, among them, acupuncture treatment was the most used. The most commonly used outcome was effective rate.Conclusions: Through this study, we could confirm that Korean traditional medicine is an effective treatment for meniscus injury. It was suggested that various clinical studies on the effects of Korean traditional medicine for meniscus injury are needed and it is necessary to establish more scientific evidence through studies with a high level of evidence.