Table 2.
Infections associated with acupuncture (48 cases).
| First author/year (references) |
Country | Cases age/sex | Disease treated | Punctured site | Diagnosis | Practitioner | Followup time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Origuchi 2000 [9] | Japan | 67/M | Not stated | Not stated | Infectious aortic aneurysm | Not specified | Recovered (≥8 d) |
| Ishibe 2001 [10] | Japan | 13/M | LBP # | Not stated | Septic arthritis | Acupuncturist | Recovered (1 wk) |
| Woo 2001 [11] | HK | 79/F | Knee OA | GB38* (leg) | Mycobacterium chelonae | Not specified | Recovered (3 wk) |
| Nambiar 2001 [12] | UK | 42/F | LBP # | Not stated | Endocarditis | Not specified | Recovered (?) |
| Shah 2002 [13] | UK | 37/M | Tendonitis | BL57* (leg) | Streptococcus | Not specified | Recovered (?) |
| Leavy 2002 [14] | USA | 33/M | Hip pain | Low limb | Staphylococcus aureus | Not specified | Recovered (6 wk) |
| Laing 2002 [15] | Ireland | 45/F | Postoperative recovery | Around tibia | Staphylococcus aureus strain sensitive to methicillin (in knee joint) | Practitioner | Recovered (6 wk) |
| Uchino 2002 [16] | Japan | 47/F | Weight loss | Earlobes | Infected left atrial myxoma (Gram-positive) | Not specified | Recovered (after surgery) |
| Woo 2003 [17] | HK | 73/M | LBP | Back | Staphylococcus | Not specified | Recovered (5 wk) |
| Ara 2003 [18] | Spain | 58/F | Obesity | Abdomen | Mycobacterium chelonae | Not specified | Recovered (3 mo) |
| Cho 2003 [19] | Korea | 56/M | Right flank discomfort | Not stated | Klebsiella pneumoniae | Not specified | Recovered (?) |
| Kettaneh 2003 [20] | France | 70/F | Not stated | Face | Facial erysipelas | Physiotherapist | Recovered (4 wk) |
| Wiwanitkit 2003 [6] | Thailand | 60/F | muscle pain | Not stated | HIV | Non-MD | Not stated |
| Ha 2003 [21] | Korea | 68/F | LBP | Back | Staphylococcus | Not specified | Recovered (4 mo) |
| Lin 2003 [22] | Australia | 44/F | Not stated | Thigh | Tissue abscess and osteomyelitis | Not specified | Recovered (?) |
| Daivajna 2004 [23] | UK | 48/F | LBP | Low back | Septic arthritis | Not specified | Recovered (3 wk) |
| Studd 2004 [24] | Australia | 64/F | Epigastric pain | Abdomen (embedded needles) | Intra-abdominal abscess | Not specified | Recovered (3 wk) |
| Kim 2004 [25] | Canada | 50/M | LBP | Lower back | Discitis from staphylococcus | Acupuncturist | Recovered (?) |
| Saw 2004 [26] | Malaysia | 55/F | Knee OA | Knee | Necrotizing fasciitis | Not specified | Recovered (?) |
| Chen 2004 [27] | Taiwan | 44/M | Nuchal and subscapular pain | Cervical paraspinal and medial scapular region | Staphylococcus aureus | Not specified | Recovered (5 mo) |
| Vucicevic 2005 [28] | Croatia | 53/F | Shoulder stiffness | Shoulder and arm | Staphylococcus pleural empyema | Not specified | Recovered (6 wk) |
| Bang 2005 [29] | Korea | 64/M | LBP | Lumbar paraspinal muscles | Escherichia coli | Not specified | Paraplegic |
| Seeley 2006 [30] | USA | 31/M | Hip pain | Bip, thigh | Staphylococcus bacteraemia | TCM doctor | Recovered (4 wk) |
| Simmons 2006 [8] | Scotland | 69/M | Knee pain | SP10* (knee) | Cellulitis, septicemia, and pneumonia | Not stated | Death due to renal failure |
| Tien 2008 [31] | Taiwan | 78/M | Knee RA | Knee | Listeria monocytogenes Septic arthritis | Acupuncturist | Recovered (3 wk) |
| Morgan 2008 [32] | USA | 16/F | Weight loss | Auricular | Pseudomonas aeruginosa | Acupuncture parlor | Recovered (21 d) |
| Lee 2008 [33] | Korea | 79/M | LBP | Back | Escherichia coli and MRSA | Not specified | Recovered (76 d) |
| Hwang 2008 [34] | Korea | 25/F | LBP | Back | Pneumoretroperitoneum | OMD | Recovered (1 wk) |
| Jeong 2009 [35] | Korea | 24/F | Weight loss | Both arms | Factitial panniculitis | Not specified | Recovered (?) |
| 22/F | Weight loss | Abdomen | Factitial panniculitis | Not specified | Recovered (?) | ||
| Hwang 2008 [36] | Korea | 25/F | LBP | Not stated | Pneumoretroperitoneum | Licensed OMD | Recovered (7 d) |
| Wu 2009 [37] | Taiwan | 12/M | Neurologic sequelae of encephalitis | Head | Pott's puffy tumor from pseudomonas | Not specified | Recovered (8 wk) |
| Woo 2009 [38] | HK | 43/F | Knee pain | Knee | MRSA | Not specified | Recovered (3 mo) |
| Ogasawara 2009 [39] | Japan | 50/F | LBP | Lower back | Septic arthritis (MRSA) |
Not specified | Recovered (70 d) |
| Guevara-Patiño 2010 [40] | Venezuela | 23/F | Not stated | Not stated | NTM | Not specified | Recovered (6 mo) |
| Nakajima 2010 [41] | Japan | 60/F | Knee pain | Needles embedded at knee | Enterococcus faecalis knee infection | Not specified | Recovered (1 y) |
| Winter 2010 [42] | USA | 21/F | Obesity | Auricular |
Auricular cellulitis | Acupuncturist | Recovered (2 d) |
| 30/M | Obesity | Auricular | Auricular cellulitis | Acupuncturist | Recovered (1 wk) | ||
| Kim 2010 [43] | Korea | 53/F | LBP | Lower back | Psoas abscess | Not specified | Recovered (2 wk) |
| Cho 2010 [44] | Korea | 59/F | Not stated | Abdomen, thigh | Mycobacterium skin infection | Not specified | Recovered (3 mo) |
| 77/M |
Not stated |
Back and abdomen |
Cutaneous tuberculosis infection | Illegal treatment | Recovered (1 y) | ||
| Kim 2010 [7] | Korea | 72/F |
Not stated |
Back, shoulder, and right thigh | Cutaneous tuberculosis infection | Illegal treatment | Recovered (9 mo) |
| 75/F | Not stated | Back and thigh | Cutaneous tuberculosis infection | Illegal treatment | Recovered (9 mo) | ||
| Macuha 2010 [45] | USA | 84/M | Osteoarthritis | Left groin | Necrotizing fasciitis |
Not specified | Recovered (2 mo) |
| Buckley 2011 [46] | UK | 15/M | Eczema | Around the knee | Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis | Not specified | Recovered (3 mo) |
| Kuo 2011 [47] | Taiwan | 57/M | LBP | Bilateral paraspinal muscles | MRSA | Not specified | Recovered (2 mo) |
| Castro-Silva 2011 [48] | Brazil | 59/M | Ankle pain | Limb | Mycobacterium haemophilum infection | Not specified | Recovered (4 mo) |
| Hsieh 2011 [49] | Taiwan | 44/F | Calf pain | Calf | Necrotizing fasciitis | TCM doctor | Recovered (21 d) |
MRSA: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection.
NTM: nontuberculous mycobacterial skin infection.
*Acupuncture points.