The Effects of Acupotomy Therapy on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Report of 4 Cases

Quality Assessment and Implications for Further Study of Acupotomy: Case Reports Using the Case Report Guidelines and the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist

This review aimed to evaluate the quality of case reports where acupotomy was performed according to the CAse REport (CARE) guidelines and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist. Case reports on acupotomy published in Korea from 2013 to October 2020 were included in this review. A total of 28 acupotomy related case reports were selected, and a quality evaluation was verified using the CARE guidelines and JBI critical appraisal checklist. Among the case reports, spinal conditions/diseases were most commonly reported. The overall complete reporting rate for each study was relatively high (median of 63.4% according to the CARE guidelines and 73.4% according to JBI critical appraisal checklist for case reports and 62% for case series). However, low reporting rates were determined in several subcategories namely, “Intervention adherence and tolerability,” “Timeline,” “Diagnostic challenges,” “Patient perspective,” and “Adverse or unanticipated events” for case reports, and “Reporting of the presenting site/clinic,” “Demographic information,” “Statistical analysis,” and “Clear criteria for inclusion” for case series. When reporting cases where acupotomy was performed, it is recommended that the CARE guidelines are followed to improve the quality of research. In addition, new guidelines and tools for the clinical situation of Korean medicine should be developed.

Assessment of the Quality of Case Reports in the Journal of Acupuncture Research Using the CARE and STRICTA Guidelines

The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of the case reports in the Journal of Acupuncture Research (JAR). All case reports were retrieved from November 2017 to June 2020. There were 19 case reports included in this assessment based on the case report (CARE) guidelines and case report and standards for reporting interventions in clinical trials of acupuncture (STRICTA) guidelines. The overall quality of reporting was relatively high (83.08% on Case Report guidelines and 77.78% on Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture guidelines), but several crucial items remained substantially underreported, such as identifying as a case report (keywords), patient information and perspective, clinical findings, diagnostic assessment, and intervention information. In 18 out of 19 included case reports of acupuncturerelated interventions, several items remained considerably underreported such as acupuncture regimen variation, depth of needle insertion, response sought, and experience of acupuncturists. In the classification by disease, condition, or syndrome, 13 out of 19 included case reports were for musculoskeletal disorders (68.4%), which is the main clinical medical field of Korean medicine services. The results of this study may help develop more appropriate reporting guidelines for case reports published in JAR.