Acupuncture safety is an unavoidable problem in acupuncture clinical. is the earliest ancient literature on acupuncture taboo, which has a far-reaching influence on the clinical acupuncture safety regulation. of - absorbs the essence of , retaining most of the contents of the theory and rearranging it. This paper tries to explore the discussions about , compared with , from the point of "anatomy" and "spirit", to describe the early understanding of acupuncture taboo, to emphasize the importance of acupuncture safety from three aspects, as human anatomy, needle and operation, and mental and functional status. It is suggested that a relatively preliminary acupuncture safety regulation was being formed at the time, in order to bring inspiration to the contemporary acupuncture clinical .
Acupuncture Therapy ; adverse effects ; China ; Moxibustion ; Needles

Communicable Diseases ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Needles/adverse effects* ; Osteomyelitis/etiology* ; Punctures/adverse effects*

During the process of electroacupuncture (EA) therapy, whether there being a corrosive effect in ac- upuncture needles was observed. Acupuncture needles were inserted into a rabbit's acupoint to perform a 12-hour electrical stimulation with three types of common EA waveform; additionally two needles were put in 0.9% sodium chloride solution with 12-hour direct current. Afterwards, environmental scanning electron microscope was applied to detect the surface physical characteristics of acupuncture needles. As a result, after a 12-hour continued electri- cal stimulation with three types of common EA waveform in the rabbit, there was no corrosive effect in acupunc- ture needles; but the direct current could cause severe corrosion in acupuncture needles. It is believed that there is no corrosion effect on acupuncture needles in current EA treatment, and some accidents reported in literature may be related to quality of EA device or improper manipulation during the treatment.
Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Corrosion ; Electroacupuncture ; instrumentation ; Male ; Needles ; adverse effects ; Rabbits

Diagnosis, Differential ; Endocarditis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Foreign Bodies ; complications ; Heart ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male ; Needles ; adverse effects

Needle-sticking method has essential differences from stuck needle induced by acupuncture accident. This manipulation refers to the needle-sticking manifestation induced by twirling the needle in one direction after arrival of qi so as to tangle muscle fibers, which can combined with some compound methods such as trembling, shaking, flying, lifting, plucking, dragging and so on. It is effective for excessive syndrome, pain syndrome, arthralgia syndrome, etc. and with functions of promoting flow of qi and inducing qi to carry out stimulating circulation of channel-qi, promoting the needling sensation propagating along the channel and accelerating qi reaching to the affected region. Its main adverse reactions are pain, tissue damage and so on. The selection of needling instruments, the needling depth, the twirling intensities and location of forbidden or careful application must be paid attention in concrete practice.
Acupuncture Therapy ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Needles

The diagnostic value of core needle biopsy is increasingly being preferred because of its better characterization of benign and malignant lesions and lower frequency of insufficient samples. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy and complication rates with 2 different gauges of core biopsy needle in the preoperative diagnosis of palpable breast lumps. A total of 150 consecutive core biopsies were included in this prospective non-randomised study of palpable breast lump from May 2000 to May 2001. The tissue diagnosis made from the core biopsy specimen was compared with the final histopathology reports from the excised specimen. However, if the lump is not excised, a presumptive diagnosis of benign lesion was made only after at least 6 months follow up with no change in the breast lump. The data were analysed for sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, diagnostic accuracy and complications. The results from the 2 different sizes of core needle biopsies were compared accordingly and a statistical analysis was performed using Chi-squared test. Ninety-six core specimens were acquired with 14 G needle while the other 54 with 16 G needle. There was no significant statistical difference between the accuracy of both needle sizes. However, 4 complications occurred with the larger size 14 G needle while none with the 16 G needle, but this was not statistically significant. In conclusion the size 16 G core biopsy needle provided an accurate diagnostic reliability that is comparable to the larger size 14 G needle in the preoperative diagnosis of palpable breast lump.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle/*instrumentation ; Breast Diseases/*pathology ; Needles/*adverse effects ; *Palpation ; Preoperative Care/*instrumentation ; Reproducibility of Results

OBJECTIVETo observe the efficacy and safety of sphenopalatine ganglion needling in treating patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia (PTN) of Liver (Gan)-yang upsurge syndrome (LYUS) type.

METHODSSixty-five PTN patients of LYUS type were assigned by a random number table to two groups and treated by deep-needling (33 patients, DN group) and superficial-needling (32 patients, SN group), respectively. The main-acupoint used for both groups was Xiaguan (ST7) of affected side, on which needle was deeply inserted to reach spheno-palatine ganglion in the DN group, but was inserted conventionally in the SN group; the auxiliary acupoints used were the local points Cuanzhu (BL2), Sibai (ST2), Chengjiang (CV24) of affected side, as well as the remote points, bilateral Hegu (LI4) and Taichong (LR3). The needling was implemented every other day, with electric stimulation applied to all the punctured acupoints for 30 min, 10 days treatment as one therapeutic course. Each patient received 2 courses of needling with 1 week interval in between. The clinical efficacy, pain control and adverse reaction were evaluated and compared after the treatment.

RESULTSRank-sum test showed that the efficacy in the DN group was significantly better than that in the SN group (Z =2.30, P=0.021); the pain was alleviated in both groups in frequency, intensity and sustained time (evaluated by visual analogue scale) significantly (P<0.01), but deep needling showed a superiority over superficial needling in reducing the frequency and intensity of episode (Z=9.55, Z=5.50, both P=0.00). No adverse reaction occurred during the treatment course of both groups.

CONCLUSIONSpheno-palatine ganglion needling is highly effective, safe and reliable for the treatment of PTN.

Acupuncture Therapy ; adverse effects ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Ganglia, Parasympathetic ; pathology ; Humans ; Liver ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; adverse effects ; Pain ; complications ; Syndrome ; Treatment Outcome ; Trigeminal Neuralgia ; complications ; therapy

Acupuncture Therapy ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods ; Aged ; Equipment Contamination ; Female ; Humans ; Infection ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needles

Acupuncture Therapy ; Acute Disease ; Fatal Outcome ; Hemorrhage/mortality* ; Humans ; Needles/adverse effects* ; Pharynx/injuries* ; Postoperative Complications ; Postoperative Hemorrhage/etiology*

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Gan-Pi regulatory needling (GPRN) in treating chloasma and its influences on female sex hormones, superoxide dismutase (SOD), lipid peroxide (LPO) and melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH).

METHODSNinety chloasma patients were equally randomized to three groups, the treatment group treated with GPRN, the control group treated with conventional Western medicine and the blank group untreated. Changes in the scores of skin lesion (area and color) and symptom, as well as blood levels of female sex hormones, MSH, SOD and LPO were observed and compared after 3 months of treatment.

RESULTSIn the treatment group, the scores of skin lesion area and color were reduced from 2.76 + or - 0.96 and 2.48 + or - 0.78 before treatment to 1.42 + or - 0.42 and 1.03 + or - 0.41 after treatment, respectively, while in the control group they were from 2.78 + or - 1.06 and 2.53 + or - 0.88 to 1.58 + or - 1.23 and 1.28 + or - 0.96, respectively, all showing significant changes (P<0.05); the scores were insignificantly changed in the blank group (P>0.05). At the same time, the score of symptoms in the treatment group significantly improved after treatment (P<0.05), significantly different from that of the other two groups. Comparison of female sex hormones among groups showed no significant differences either before or after treatment. The level of LPO decreased and SOD increased in both the treatment group and the control group significantly (all P<0.05), but significant lowering of MSH was only seen in the treatment group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSGPRN can effectively lessen the size and lighten the color of chloasma, improve the accompanying symptoms in patients and decrease LPO and MSH levels and increase the SOD level, but will not affect the level of the female sex hormones.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Administration, Topical ; Adult ; Ascorbic Acid ; administration & dosage ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Female ; Gonadal Steroid Hormones ; blood ; Humans ; Melanosis ; blood ; therapy ; Needles ; adverse effects ; Skin Pigmentation ; drug effects ; physiology ; Treatment Outcome ; Vitamin E ; administration & dosage ; Western World