Stimulated by Lin et al 2019.[1] Photo by Robina on Unsplash. Not more adverse event reports I hear you cry! No, this paper is very different, and again unexpected, despite actually being rather similar to the previous one I highlighted (sorry to be cryptic). It was just last week that I was musing at the … Continue reading Post-acupuncture pneumothorax incidence
Stimulated by Liu et al 2019.[1] Photo by Idella on Unsplash.This image is chosen to illustrate the phrase 'like trying to find a needle in a haystack', and it reminds me of the difficulties surgeons used to have in finding embedded foreign bodies. This is a noteworthy case because it is the first report I … Continue reading Laparoscopic needle fragment removal 2019
Stimulated by Tucciarone et al and Choi et al 2019.[1,2] Photo by Jairo Alzate on Unsplash. These two papers popped up on one of my PubMed searches on Monday 22nd July. They are both adverse events related to acupuncture in the region of the spine. One avoidable, and the other probably not, and both in … Continue reading Spinal AEs 2019
Stimulated by Prinsze et al 2019.[1] Photo by Cassi Josh on Unsplash. New acronyms are guaranteed to get me guessing, but these two were a challenge. They roll off the tongue pretty well as acronyms, but I had to check both! NREs are needle-related events, so that is relevant to the blog, and TTIs are transfusion-transmissible infections ie … Continue reading NREs and TTIs in the Netherlands
Inspired by Shew et al 2019.[1] Shew et al 2019.[1] This is the first reported case of a spinal epidural abscess as a possible complication of acupuncture treatment in New Zealand. It is the 15th such report I can find in the literature (on PubMed), but this report and most others cannot make irrefutable causal … Continue reading Spinal epidural abscesses
Inspired by Llamas Fuentes et al Med Clin (Barc) 2019.[1] Image from an old version of Adam Interactive anatomy. We have another case report of a serious adverse event following acupuncture. This time cardiac damage from needling in the area of the sternum. But my title refers more to my disappointment at the entire lack … Continue reading Heartbreak
Inspired by Siqueira et al 2018.[1] A shot from the Ealing half marathon 2018 at around the 9 mile point - my arms were aching after taking over 2k of photos through a heavy zoom lens whilst waiting for my boy (5448) to come past 😀 This paper popped up on PubCrawler this morning. I’m … Continue reading Needling runners’ knees
Inspired by Priola et al 2019.[1] This is the first reported case of a cranial epidural abscess as a likely complication of acupuncture treatment. The report was written by the specialist neurosurgical team under whom the patient was admitted. This is often the case in such unusual and serious adverse events, but it also limits … Continue reading Cranial epidural abscess
Inspired by Jian et al. Medicine 2018 Last Saturday (3rd November 5, 2018) I was lecturing on the BMAS Foundation Course, and during the morning coffee break I received one of my regular email alerts from PubCrawler – an Irish website that searches (or crawls) PubMed (the US National Library of Medicine) leaving you free to … Continue reading Another fatality
Comments by Michael Meinen (MM) and Mike Cummings (MC) This blog was first published on 24th August 2018 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ Case report El-Wahsh S, Efendy J & Sheridan M. Migration of self-introduced acupuncture needle into the brainstem. J Neurosci Rural Pract 2018; 9(3): 434 – 436. Presentation An elderly man presented to an emergency department after … Continue reading Needle Migration in the neck
