OBJECTIVE To investigate the current status and causes of occupational exposures to needlestick inju-ries among healthcare workers who perform minimally invasive acupunctures of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)so as to propose treatment countermeasures.METHODS A total of 95 cases who were involved in the oc-cupational exposures to needlestick injuries due to minimally invasive acupunctures and were treated in hospital in-fection management department of Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine from Jan.2020 to Dec.2024 were retrospectively investigated,and the risk factors for the occupational exposures were statistically analyzed.RESULTS The cases of operation-induced needlestick injuries accounted for 16.35％(95/581)among the total cases of occupational exposures due to the operation of minimally invasive acupunctures of TCM,standardized and advanced training doctors as well as interns were dominant among the occupational ex-posure cases.There were 69(72.63％)cases of acupuncture needle injuries,34(35.79％)of whom had the needlestick injuries during the process of withdrawal of needles.The result of data analysis showed that there were significant differences in age,occupation,working years,distribution of departments,autoimmunity,type of needlestick injury,link of stick injuries and treatment of occupational exposure with emergent screening(all P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The incidence of needlestick injuries is high among the health care workers who per-form the minimally invasive acupunctures of TCM,which should be attached great attention to.It is of great sig-nificance to standardize and modify the use procedure,use portable sharp boxes,intensify the safe operation skills for the health care workers with less experience,strengthen the teaching,focus on the autoimmunity,vaccinate in a timely manner,and effectively treat the occupational exposures so as to reduce the incidence of occupational ex-posures and the risk of infections.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the current status and causes of occupational exposures to needlestick inju-ries among healthcare workers who perform minimally invasive acupunctures of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)so as to propose treatment countermeasures.METHODS A total of 95 cases who were involved in the oc-cupational exposures to needlestick injuries due to minimally invasive acupunctures and were treated in hospital in-fection management department of Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine from Jan.2020 to Dec.2024 were retrospectively investigated,and the risk factors for the occupational exposures were statistically analyzed.RESULTS The cases of operation-induced needlestick injuries accounted for 16.35％(95/581)among the total cases of occupational exposures due to the operation of minimally invasive acupunctures of TCM,standardized and advanced training doctors as well as interns were dominant among the occupational ex-posure cases.There were 69(72.63％)cases of acupuncture needle injuries,34(35.79％)of whom had the needlestick injuries during the process of withdrawal of needles.The result of data analysis showed that there were significant differences in age,occupation,working years,distribution of departments,autoimmunity,type of needlestick injury,link of stick injuries and treatment of occupational exposure with emergent screening(all P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The incidence of needlestick injuries is high among the health care workers who per-form the minimally invasive acupunctures of TCM,which should be attached great attention to.It is of great sig-nificance to standardize and modify the use procedure,use portable sharp boxes,intensify the safe operation skills for the health care workers with less experience,strengthen the teaching,focus on the autoimmunity,vaccinate in a timely manner,and effectively treat the occupational exposures so as to reduce the incidence of occupational ex-posures and the risk of infections.

Objective To investigate the effect of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on mitral regurgitation caused by acute myocardial infarction in canines.Methods The acute myocardial infarction model was established by ligating proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) with 13 hybrid canines. The myocardial infarction model was successfuly established in 12 animals and those were randomly divided into the HGF-group and control group with 6 animals in each group. Canines of the HGF-group were injected with pc-DNA3-HGF 1 ml (about 300 μg) at the margin of infarcted myocardial and animals of the control group were injected with equal volume saline. The data were measured through echocardiography in the 1st, 4th and 8th week after ligation as following parameters: left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), left atrial area, mitral regurgitation area and the ratio of left atrial area to mitral regurgitation area. Left ventricular myocardium specimens were obtained in the 8th week after ligation and stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histological examination or with picrosirius red staining to assess the collagen content.Results Compared with the control group, LVEF in the HGF-group increased in the 4th week after ligation; LVEF significantly improved and LVESV decreased in the 8th week after ligation ( P<0.05). In the 8th week after ligation, left atrial area, mitral regurgitation area and the ratio of left atrial area to mitral regurgitation area in the HGF-group were lower than that in the control group. In the HGF-group, neovascularization and fewer scars were observed histologically. Compared with the control group, the HGF-group showed higher capillary density in margin of infarcted area by factor Ⅷ-related immunohistochemistry staining ( P<0.01).Conclusion HGF gene can improve cardiac function and relieve mitral regurgitation after acute myocardial infarction by stimulating angiogenesis, reducing fibrosis, diminishing myocardiolysis and scarring.