Citation

Bergqvist D. Eur. J. Vasc. Endovasc. Surg. 2008; 36(2): 160-163.

Affiliation

Department of Surgical Sciences, Section of Surgery, Uppsala University Hospital, SE 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ejvs.2008.04.004

PMID

18538597

Abstract

AIM: to systematically review the literature on vascular injuries caused by acupuncture. METHOD: systematic literature search in Medline and PubMed. RESULTS: twenty-one cases were identified and the majority developed symptoms in direct connection with the acupuncture treatment. Three patients died, two from pericardial tamponade and one from an aortoduodenal fistula. There were five more tamponades, seven pseudoaneurysms, two with ischaemia, two with venous thrombosis, one with compartment syndrome and one with bleeding. The two patients with ischaemia had remaining sequeleae. Information on follow-up was suboptimal with no information in nine patients. CONCLUSION: vascular injuries are rare, bleeding and pseudoaneurysm dominating. Follow-up is insufficient in the hitherto published papers.

Language: en