Review of Practices at the Pain Clinic of Osaka Medical University Department of Anesthesiology Over the Past 23 Years / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

During the 23 years since this pain clinic was founded, 29, 458 patients have been treated here (about 385, 000 patient visits in total). In the earlier days, patients with whiplash injury (posttraumatic neck syndrome) were predominant. More males than females visited our clinic in those earlier days. Several years after this clinic opened, the percentage of female patients became higher (55% or more) than the percentage of male patients. Reflecting the social trend of an increase in the percentage of elderly people in the total population, the percentage of patients between 60 and 80 years of age has been increasing. Patients who visit this clinic live primarily in Osaka Prefecture. However, it is not uncommon that patients living in other prefectures of the Kinki district visit this clinic. Although patients visit our clinic because of various complaints, they often suffer from chronic, intractable complaints, such as low back pain, combined pain of the lower back and legs, and postherapuetic neuralgia. They often visit our clinic as a last resort for healing, after having consulted many other institutions. The duration of sickness among patients who visit our clinic is long (often over 5 years). Although the methods of treatment and the patients' responses vary, depending on their diseases, the combination of nerve block with acupuncture seems to be more effective on pain. We have utilized various techniques of acupuncture, including the in situ needle acupuncture, low-frequency therapy, SSP therapy, laser therapy and hyperthermia.

The analgesic effect of laser-puncture on painful diseases / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

A statistical study on effects of laser-puncture was carried out. In addition, an attempt was made to compare between the effect of acupuncture and this method. The treatments were under-taken for various chronic and acute cases with pain. In the laser-puncture treatment, two types of laser (<i>i, e.</i> low energy 10mW laser and 70mW sharp laser) were used. Laser-beam was given to 20-30 points which were located in painful areas, innervating nerve areas and remote areas for 40 sec for each.<br>In the open study, 10mW laser-puncture was effective (including ‘rather effective’) in 64% of the cases, and 70mW laser-puncture 73%. In the blind test, ‘the day’ evaluation showed that the laser-punctures were more effective than placebo treatment: 10mW laser-puncture was effective in 80% of the cases, and placebo in 67%. 70mW laser-puncture was effective in 87% of them, and placebo in 80%. <i>In situ</i> acupuncture was effective in 97%, and no effect was seen in 7%.<br>Only ‘the day’ evaluation in the open study showed that 70mW laser-puncture was more effective than 10mW one. In the blind best, 10mW and 70mW laser-puncture were more effective than placebo, and in situ acupuncture was more effective than the laser-punctures, but there were no significant differences among the three treatmets.