Adverse events from pharmacopuncture treatment in Korea

Abstract

Background: Pharmacopuncture is a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine, which involves the injection of herbal extracts into acupuncture points (acupoints). Pharmacopuncture has become one of the major therapeutic tools used in Korea; however, safety is one of the major concerns associated with it. We aim to systematically review clinical studies on the adverse events of pharmacopuncture in Korea. Methods: To collect data on the incidence and characteristics of adverse events (AEs) and to evaluate pharmacopuncture safety, 2 or more researchers will conduct a comprehensive search of pertinent English and Korean databases using the keywords “pharmacopuncture” and “adverse events.” Regardless of the participants’ conditions or treatment types, we will include clinical studies on the AEs of pharmacopuncture. Studies that were not conducted in Korea, and acupoint injections containing Western medications, vitamins, or autologous serum will be excluded from this study. The severity of AEs will be classified using the common terminology criteria for adverse events, and the causality between pharmacopuncture and AEs will be assessed using the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre (WHO-UMC) causality scale. The quality of identifying and reporting the AEs will be assessed using the McHarm scale. The risk of selection bias will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias and the risk of bias for non-randomized studies tools. Studies will be assessed for heterogeneity utilizing Higgins's I 2 statistics, and the risk of publication bias will be assessed and expressed in the form of a contour-enhanced funnel plot. Results and Conclusion: Comprehensive investigation of all types of clinical studies in Korea will provide clearer evidence of the safety of pharmacopuncture. The results of this study will be useful for traditional medical doctors and patients who use such treatments and interventions. Systematic Review Registration: Open Science Foundation (osf.io/umhyz).

Effectiveness and Therapeutic Mechanism of Pharmacopuncture for Pain in Parkinson’s Disease: A Study Protocol for a Pilot Pragmatic Randomized, Assessor-Blinded, Usual Care-Controlled, Three-Arm Parallel Trial

“…Specifically, Jungsongouhyul PA prescribes extravasated blood treatment involving the herbal drugs Gardeniae Fructus, Corydalis Tuber, Olibanum, Myrrha, Persicae Semen, Paeoniae Radix Rubra, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix, and Sappan Lignum for adjusting the function of the body and improving pathological conditions [9]. It is used to treat various conditions including pain, neurological diseases, and gastrointestinal diseases [10], and is most often applied to manage musculoskeletal disease [11]. Combination therapy that includes Jungsongouhyul PA has been found to be demonstrably beneficial for patients with acute traumatic shoulder pain [12] and patients with cervical pain caused by traffic injury [13]; moreover, crush-induced sciatic nerve injury in a rat model was used to show that the neuroprotective effect of combination therapy including Jungsongouhyul PA was related to pain reduction and motor nerve recovery, decreased substance-P expression, and increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression [14,15].…”