A 79 - year - old char from Portugal generate quite the shock after her first ever acupuncture experience . Suffering acute pain , tiredness , and respiration difficulties she sought medical attention soon after and was name with a collapse lung .
Her term was diagnose by doctors at the Centro Hospitalar Universitario de Lisboa Central , who detail their finding inBMJ Case Reports . An ecstasy - ray of her breast determined that she was stand from pneumothorax , aka a collapse lung , a condition where strain gets into the blank space between the lung and chest bulwark . This air push on the lung , cause it to cave in .
In this scenario , the patient role ’s right lung had been indented by about 2.3 cm ( 1 in ) . She had visited the acupuncturist in an attack to curb inveterate upper back painful sensation , and a acerate leaf was put in near to her shoulder joint leaf blade . Here , the lung can fall very nigh to the skin , so the needle literally pricked the space between her lung and chest wall , known as the pleural dental caries , which induce her lung to collapse .
Thankfully , with aesculapian tending , she recovered whole . Doctors had to slip in a chest tube , a machine used to move out air and fluid from the pleural cavum , and she was given oxygen and painful sensation medication . After being kept under observance for a few days , she was discharged from the infirmary .
You might be hop that this case was just a one - off , but bizarrely it seems break lungs due to acupuncture are n’t all that uncommon . In fact , “ pneumothorax is known as the most vulgar serious ramification surveil stylostixis , ” concord to a2013 reportdetailing two incidences of acupuncture - related pneumothorax in Denmark .
Meanwhile , areview put out in 2016found evidence of 128 describe cases in China , where the practice originates , and 51 cases elsewhere . The article , written by Chinese scientist , notes that Western medical books often ignore the fact that acupuncture is really an “ important suit ” of pneumothorax . In the grand scheme of things , the issue is still seldom reported , just not as rarely as one might assume .
wide name as an “ alternative medicine ” , whether acupuncture in reality has any benefits is heatedly debate . Scientific grounds is mixed , with some studies propose it might avail to reduce nuisance and others finding that it has no effects at all .
The belated case just highlights the fact that acupuncturists need to have a very detailed knowledge of the human soundbox and make their patients cognizant of the potential risks the practice can pose . While very rare , death from acupuncturehave been reported , normally due to needles penetrating full of life organ . If you ’re call up about getting stylostixis , it ’s a good idea to get your doctor ’s opinion first and be certain to visit a well - regarded and amply licensed acupuncturist .
" Despite being conceive relatively safe , stylostixis is an invasive function and carries undeniable risk of complications , " write the case reputation ’s authors , note that their patient " had not been by rights inform of the potential adverse upshot . "
