Byung Kwan Seo

Clinical effectiveness of bee venom acupuncture and physiotherapy in the treatment of adhesive capsulitis: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Bee venom acupuncture (BVA) has been used in the treatment of adhesive capsulitis (AC) in the clinical field. This study aimed to investigate whether the addition of BVA to physiotherapy (PT) would be more effective in the management of AC, and whether BVA would have a dose-dependent effect. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-eight patients diagnosed with AC were recruited into 3 groups; BV 1 (1:10,000 BVA plus PT), BV 2 (1:30,000 BVA plus PT), and group 3 (normal saline (NS) injection, as a control, plus PT). PT was composed of 15 minutes of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), transcutaneous infrared thermotherapy (TDP), and manual PT. Treatments were given in 16 sessions within 2 months. Shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI), pain visual analogue scale (VAS), and 3) active/passive range of motion (ROM) were measured before treatment and at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the treatment. RESULTS All 3 groups showed statistically significant improvements in SPADI, pain VAS scores, and active/passive ROM. The BV 1 group showed significantly better outcomes in SPADI at 8 and 12 weeks, in pain VAS (at rest) at 8 weeks, and in pain VAS (during exercise) at 12 weeks than the NS group. No significant differences were found in active/passive ROM among all the groups. CONCLUSION BVA in combination with PT can be more effective in improving pain and function than PT alone in AC. However, the effectiveness of BVA was not shown in a dose-dependent manner.

The Effect of Traditional Korean Medical Treatment on Low Back Pain during Pregnancy: a Report on Three Cases

Objectives: This case series was conducted to report the efficacy of Ondam-tanggami for insomnia. Methods: Insomnia patients with more than 15 points on Insomnia Severity Index scale were assessed using SCL-90-R, STAI, STAXI, BUI. Being treated with Ondam-tanggami after 2 weeks, ISI, STAI, STAXI, BDI were re-measured to determine the progress of insomnia. It is measured that total sleep time, number of awaking times during sleep, satisfaction of sleep daily. Results: After treatment, quality of sleep has improved and ISI, STAI, STAXI, BUI score have decreased. Conclusions: According to the study, treatment with Ondam-tanggami for insomnia has shown positive results. Further use of Ondam-tanggami is much anticipated for future treatment of insomnia cases.