Long-Term Follow-Up of Inpatients with Cervical Myelopathy Who Received Integrative Korean Medicine Treatment: A Retrospective Analysis and Questionnaire Survey Study

Hyun Woo Cho; Ju Hun Park; Dong Hwi Yoo; Dong Wook Hwang; Sang Don Kim; Eun-San Kim; Kyoung Sun Park; Yoon Jae Lee; Jinho Lee; Changsop Yang; Chang Hyun Han; In-Hyuk Ha

doi:10.2147/JPR.S347410

Long-Term Follow-Up of Inpatients with Cervical Myelopathy Who Received Integrative Korean Medicine Treatment: A Retrospective Analysis and Questionnaire Survey Study

J Pain Res. 2022 Mar 28:15:801-812. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S347410. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Haeundae Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, Busan, 48102, Republic of Korea.
² Jaseng Spine and Joint Research Institute, Jaseng Medical Foundation, Seoul, 06110, Republic of Korea.
³ Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, Seoul, 06110, Republic of Korea.
⁴ KM Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, 34054, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Korean Convergence Medical Science, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine School, University of Science & Technology, Daejeon, 34054, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Purpose: Cervical myelopathy (CM) is generally considered an indication for surgery in Western medicine. Case reports have indicated that Korean medicine (KM) treatments are effective in improving CM-associated symptoms. We investigated the effectiveness of non-surgical KM treatment of CM patients through a retrospective chart review and follow-up survey.

Patients and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records and surveyed follow-up data of CM patients with neurological symptoms admitted to KM hospitals between January 2011 and January 2018. The admission and discharge assessments included the numeric rating scale (NRS) for neck and arm pain, neck disability index (NDI), and 5-level EuroQol 5-dimension (EQ-5D-5L). A follow-up survey was conducted about whether surgery was subsequently performed or recommended, symptom recurrence, discomfort in daily living, current treatment, as well as NRS, NDI, EQ-5D-5L, and patient global impression of change (PGIC) scores.

Results: The NRS for neck pain decreased from 4.88 ± 2.03 (95% CI: 4.23‒5.52) at admission to 3.23 ± 1.64 (95% CI: 2.70‒3.75) at discharge and 2.24 ± 1.84 (95% CI: 1.43‒3.05) at follow-up. The NRS for radiating arm pain decreased from 5.42 ± 1.55 (95% CI: 4.93‒5.92) to 3.77 ± 1.54 (95% CI: 3.28‒4.27) at discharge and 2.43 ± 1.60 (95% CI: 1.72‒3.13) at follow-up. The NDI decreased significantly from 36.24 ± 18.79 (95% CI: 30.24‒42.24) at admission to 30.89 ± 15.54 (95% CI: 25.93‒35.86) at discharge and 13.35 ± 11.95 (95% CI: 8.08‒18.63) at follow-up. The EQ-5D score improved significantly from 0.70 ± 0.21 (95% CI: 0.63‒0.77) to 0.78 ± 0.17 (95% CI: 0.73‒0.84) at discharge and 0.84 ± 0.08 (95% CI: 0.80‒0.88) at follow-up. At the follow-up, four patients experienced persistent pain and were undergoing treatment (19.1%), while 20 patients (95.8%) reported symptom improvement.

Conclusion: From a long-term perspective, integrative KM treatment may help to reduce pain and improve function, and improve quality of life of CM patients.

Keywords: Korean medicine; Shinbaro; acupuncture; cervical myelopathy; musculoskeletal manipulations; pharmacopuncture.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the project of the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KSN2022210).