Clinical Studies of Bee Venom Acupuncture for Lower Back Pain in the Korean Literature

Toxins (Basel). 2022 Jul 30;14(8):524. doi: 10.3390/toxins14080524.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify all of the characteristics of bee venom acupuncture (BVA) for the treatment of lower back pain (LBP) that are described in the Korean literature, and to provide English-speaking researchers with bibliometrics. Six Korean electronic databases and sixteen Korean journals on BVA treatment for back pain were searched up to February 2022. This report included and analyzed 64 clinical studies on BVA interventions for back pain and 1297 patients with LBP. The most common disease in patients with back pain was lumbar herniated intervertebral discs (HIVD) of the lumbar spine (L-spine). All studies used bee venom (BV) diluted with distilled water. The concentration of BVA for HIVD of L-spine patients with LBP ranged from 0.01 to 5.0 mg/mL; the dosage per treatment was 0.02-2.0 mL, and for a total session was 0.3-40.0 mL. The most used outcome measure was the visual analogue scale for back pain (n = 45, 70.3%), and most of the papers reported that each outcome measure had a positive effect. Korean clinical studies were typically omitted from the review research, resulting in potential language bias. This study provides clinical cases in Korea for future development and standardization of BVA treatment for back pain.

Keywords: bee venom; bee venom acupuncture; clinical studies; complementary and alternative medicine; lower back pain.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acupuncture Therapy* / methods
  • Bee Venoms* / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Language
  • Low Back Pain* / drug therapy
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Bee Venoms

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT; No. NRF 2022R1I1A3068255), and by a grant from the Project of National Development Institute of Korean Medicine, Accreditation of External Herbal Dispensaries of Traditional Korean Medicine Clinics, funded by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare.