Acupuncture for SCD 2024

Stimulated by Wang et al 2024.[1] SCD – subjective cognitive declineIF – impact factorSCDQ – subjective cognitive decline questionnaireMMSE – mini mental state examinationMCI – mild cognitive impairmentAD – Alzheimer’s diseaseEA – electroacupunctureAVLT – auditory verbal learning testTMT – trail making testAFT – animal fluency testBNT – Boston naming testSCWT – Stroop colour word testDSST … Continue reading Acupuncture for SCD 2024 →

EA for tinnitus 2024

Stimulated by Zha et al 2024.[1] Photo by Kathryn Archibald on Pexels.com EA – electroacupunctureENT – ears nose and throat (refers to a medical specialty)TrP – trigger pointNMDA – N-methyl-D-aspartate (glutamate receptor)TS – subjective tinnitusTHI – tinnitus handicap inventoryrs-fMRI – resting state functional magnetic resonance imagingFC – functional connectivityINS – insula Treatment of tinnitus with … Continue reading EA for tinnitus 2024 →

Post cholecystectomy pain

Stimulated by Lee et al 2023.[1] Photo by Jonny Goerend on Unsplash, with the cover of SJPAIN superimposed in the bottom right. PCP – post cholecystectomy painCABG – coronary artery bypass graftAMPS – abdominal myofascial pain syndromeTPI – trigger point injectionPRF – pulsed radiofrequencyUS – ultrasoundLA – local anaestheticNRS – numerical rating scaleEA – electroacupuncture … Continue reading Post cholecystectomy pain →

Bell’s palsy and DTI 2023

Stimulated by Qin et al 2023.[1] Figure 2 from Liu et al 2011.[2] Bell’s palsy – idiopathic facial palsyDTI – diffusion tensor imagingIF – impact factorFA – fractional anisotropyMD – mean diffusivityAD – axial diffusivityRD – radial diffusivity key to acronyms I was just doing a review for a big general journal and the authors … Continue reading Bell’s palsy and DTI 2023 →

Where to needle 2023

…in infraspinatus and other muscles. Stimulated by Lee et al 2023.[1] Possible TrP locations in the infraspinatus muscle based on the frequency of finding EPZs. Yellow indicates the presence of EPZs in 90% to 100% of individuals. Green indicates the presence of EPZs in 50% to 80% of individuals. This is based on data from … Continue reading Where to needle 2023 →

Kidney laceration after acupuncture 2023

Stimulated by Cheng et al 2023.[1] Figure 1 from Cheng et al 2023.[1] ES – erector spinae key to acronym The risk of needling the kidney must have come up on every acupuncture course I have ever taught over the last 27 years. My comment is usually that acupuncture needles are unlikely to do much … Continue reading Kidney laceration after acupuncture 2023 →

AEs in Korea and Japan 2022

Inspired by a few rare case reports and a prospective survey.[1–4] Figure 6 from Abe et al (2022) illustrating the trajectory of the lost 40mm needle shaft.[4] AEs – adverse eventsWMA – Western medical acupunctureVP shunt – ventriculoperitoneal shunt (tube connecting one cerebral ventricle to the peritoneal cavity)CSF – cerebrospinal fluidVVAVF – vertebra-vertebral arteriovenous fistulaMRA … Continue reading AEs in Korea and Japan 2022 →

Acupuncture and DTI 2022

Inspired by Kim et al and Zhai et al 2022.[1,2] DTI – diffusion tensor imagingMRI – magnetic resonance imagingFA – fractional anisotropyEA – electroacupunctureTCSS – Toronto clinical scoring system key to acronyms I am sitting on a hotel room balcony in Bologna following an international medical acupuncture conference and contemplating the subject for this week’s … Continue reading Acupuncture and DTI 2022 →

Hearts lungs and eyes 2022

Inspired by four recent adverse event reports related to needling.[1–4] Photo by Cameron Venti on Unsplash. PMCT – post-mortem computed tomographyED – emergency departmentCT – computed tomographyCXR – chest x rayDSA – digital subtraction angiographyTAE – transcatheter arterial embolizationAEs – adverse eventsDED – dry eye diseasekey to acronyms This week I have a series of recent adverse events … Continue reading Hearts lungs and eyes 2022 →