Objective : There was no report on traumatic pneumothorax associated with acupuncture in korea yet, although many people guess at its possibility. In order to make known that acupuncture can cause pneumothorax in reality and to prevent more acupuncture-related adverse effect cases in future, this report was made.
Methods : Close observation was done on clinical symptoms & radiologic examination of acupuncture-related traumatic pneumothorax patient.
Results : During acupuncture therapy on neck stiffness & shoulder pain, a acupuncture needle was inserted too deeply into upper part of thorax unintentionally, patient showed dyspnea, chest pain & discomfort, cough, sweating and mild rupture of right lung in chest radiologic findings, and recovered after 2 weeks of conservative treatment.
Conclusion : In order to prevent traumatic pneumothorax during acupuncture therapy, needling into thorax sometimes requires tilted acupuncture needle inserting under consideration of needle width & length. At least 0.40mm width of needle is generally considered appropriate in needling into taut band of thoracic muscles, because too thin and long needle sometimes can be bent and inserted into wrong way, which can cause adverse effects like pneumothorax.
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