The Reporting Quality of Acupuncture-Related Infections in Korean Literature: A Systematic Review of Case Studies

Table 2

Author’s conclusion in the included studies and causality assessment based on the WHO-UMC criteria.

Study ID; (author, yr)	Author’s conclusion (Quotation from reports)	Causality assessment
Bang and Lim 2006 [25]	“Paraplegia might result from complications of an acupuncture therapy.”	Probable
Cho et al. 2003 [33]	“We report a case of serious infectious complication caused by acupuncture.”	Conditional
Cho et al. 2010 [21]	“We report a case of 59-year-old Korean woman who developed M. abscessus cutaneous infection after multiple acupunctures.”	Unlikely
Cho et al. 2015 [31]	“It is plausible that the infection was caused by acupuncture therapy rather than a hematogenous infection.”	Unlikely
Choi et al. 2013 [13]	“In this case, we assume that the patient had acupuncture needles and bacteremia after being treated with contaminated was maybe seeded in the liver.”	Unlikely
Choi 2014 [17]	“In conclusion, acupuncture and herbal injection should be performed using clean care practices, and NF must be considered as a possible complication in high-risk patients and even also in healthy patients”	Possible
Ha et al. 1999 [30]	“Since there were no obvious predisposing conditions preceding anaerobic infection in the young male patient other than acupuncture therapy, it is speculated that the organism was introduced to the blood circulation either from improperly sterilized acupuncture needles or from the colon via minute perforations caused by those needles.”	Possible
Ha and Kim 2003 [26]	“…we hypothesize that the epidural granuloma probably formed as the result of focal hemorrhage and low-grade infection by a microorganism after acupuncture…”	Unassessable
Han et al. 2012 [18]	“…based on the multifocal acupuncture therapy history of this patient and the absence of previous pericardial disease, the pericardial abscess may have been caused by hematogenous spread of Staphylococcus aureus from the soft tissue infection of the knees.”	Unlikely
Kang et al. 2012 [14]	“Based on the aforementioned observations, it was likely that the abscess and septic arthritis were due to acupuncture and moxibustion.”	Conditional
Jung et al. 2011 [32]	“We theorize that our patient acquired cutaneous herpes from direct viral inoculation via a contaminated acupuncture needle or reactivation of a cutaneous herpes viral infection due to mechanical trauma.”	Probable
Jung et al. 2014 [22]	“We present a case of a localized cutaneous infection due to M. massiliense of the sole associated with acupuncture.”	Conditional
Kang and Jeong 2006 [15]	“We present this extremely unusual case of a patient after taking acupuncture who survived severe necrotizing fasciitis of the chest wall following wide debridement of the necrotic tissue and broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy.”	Unassessable
Kim et al. 2003 [35]	“We herein report a rare case of secondary syphilis with clinical features of annular pustular psoriasis following the repeated acupuncture and venous drainage by a her doctor.”	Possible
Kim et al. 2010 [23]	“Herein, we report 3 cases of primary inoculation tuberculosis resulting from illegal acupuncture in the same nursing home on the same day by a person with no medical training or license.”	Probable
J. W. Kim and Y. S. Kim 2010 [27]	“Here, we report the first documented case of psoas abscess caused by acupuncture procedure in a hemodialysis patient.”	Possible
Kim et al. 2015 [29]	“Herein, we report an unusual case of abdominal wall actinomycosis which developed in a patient after acupuncture and presented as abdominal wall mass that was first mistaken for abdominal wall invasion of diverticulum perforation.”	Possible
Lee et al. 1994 [24]	“In our case, the contaminated acupuncture needle could be an infection source of cutaneous lesions."	Probable
Lee et al. 2008 [19]	“In the present case, a long acupuncture needle penetrated from the patient’s back is the most suspicious cause for the aortic infection.”	Unlikely
Lee et al. 2012 [28]	“In this case, we suspect that wet cupping and/or acupuncture in poorly controlled hygiene might have led to the cervical epidural abscess.”	Certain
Lim et al. 2013 [34]	“We report a 56-year-old cirrhotic patient of non-O1, non-O139 septicemia caused by cellulitis of both lower extremities after acupuncture.”	Unlikely
Song et al. 2006 [16]	“We report a rare case of necrotizing fasciitis on the face of a 62-year-old man, who had uncontrolled diabetes mellitus following acupuncture treatment.”	Unassessable
Yu et al. 2013 [20]	“Multiple epidural abscess after acupuncture.”	Possible

Causality was assessed according to the WHO-UMC criteria based on the information from the reports on AEs (or complications).