Endoscopic Flexor Hallucis Longus Tendon Transfer for Chronic Achilles Tendon Rupture.

Chronic Achilles tendon rupture posed significant disability to the patients. Flexor hallucis longus (FHL) transfer can be used to restore the plantarflexion power of the ankle. Traditionally, a long medial incision with extensive soft tissue dissection is needed for FHL transfer. With the advance in flexor hallucis tendoscopy, endoscopic FHL tendon transfer can be performed without extensive soft tissue dissection.

Two Years versus One Year of Tianjiu Therapy in Sanfu Days for Chronic Asthma: A Clinical Efficacy Observation Trial.

Background. Tianjiu therapy has established efficacy against chronic asthma with related symptoms or the medication need during asthma attack. This study aimed to explore the optimal duration of Tianjiu therapy for asthma. Methods. This study was a self-comparison-to-the-baseline study, which comparing treatment with Tianjiu therapy for 1 year and 2 years in the same 102 chronic asthma patients. Totally 6 sessions of Tianjiu treatment were provided, 3 sessions in a year as a course of treatment and totally two years treatment. The primary endpoint was the number of asthma related symptoms which frequently appeared in asthma patients and the frequency of bronchodilator used during asthma attack. Results. The frequency of bronchodilator used during asthma attack significantly improved (χ (2) = 46.276, P = 0.000). But the number of asthma related symptoms which frequently appeared in asthma patients added by 1.38 points (95% CI, 0.25 to 2.51), 2.93 ± 0.41 in 1-year group and 4.31 ± 0.41 in the 2-years group (P < 0.05). Conclusions. The effect of 2 years Tianjiu therapy was not as effective as 1 year such treatment for asthma, but the second year Tianjiu therapy was still needed because it has a role to consolidate the curative effect of Tianjiu therapy for asthma.

Wrist-ankle acupuncture for the treatment of pain symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Routine acupuncture incorporates wrist-ankle acupuncture (WAA) for its analgesic effect, but WAA is not widely used in clinics due to incomplete knowledge of its effectiveness and concerns about less clinical research and because less people know it. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and possible adverse effects of WAA or WAA adjuvants in the treatment of pain symptoms. This study compared WAA or WAA adjuvant with the following therapies: western medication (WM), sham acupuncture (SA), or body acupuncture (BA). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched systematically in related electronic databases by two independent reviewers. 33 RCTs were finally included, in which 7 RCTs were selected for meta-analysis. It was found that WAA or WAA adjuvant was significantly more effective than WM, SA, or BA in pain relief. There was nothing different between WAA and SA in adverse events, but WAA was marginally significantly safer than WM. Although both WAA and WAA adjuvant appeared to be more effective than WM, SA, or BA in the treatment of pain symptoms with few side effects, further studies with better and more rigorously designed are still necessary to ensure the efficacy and safety issue of WAA due to the poor methodology and small sample size of previous studies.