Infectious Adverse Events Following Acupuncture: Clinical Progress and Microbiological Etiology

Background: We investigated the clinical progress and bacteriological characteristics of infectious adverse events (AEs) following acupuncture and compared patient characteristics between serious and non-serious outcome groups.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in 1,174 patients with infectious complications associated with acupuncture at the emergency department (ED) in a tertiary hospital in Korea between 2010 and 2014. Serious outcome was defined as development of septic shock, admission to intensive care unit (ICU) or attaining permanent morbidity.

Results: Forty-eight patients had certain causality and cellulitis, necrotizing fasciitis and osteomyelitis were common in order. Among them, 9 patients (18.8%) were categorized into serious outcome group, and they showed devastating outcomes such as septic shock (n = 2), ICU admission (n = 4), and permanent sequelae (n = 5). The serious group had delayed admission to the ED after acupuncture (30.0 [4.0-55.0] vs. 3.0 [1.0-10.0] days, = 0.023). Methicillin-sensitive was the most frequently identified microorganism. The patients in the serious group required longer treatment duration (139.0 [49.0-183.5] vs. 14.0 [7.0-34.0] days, < 0.001) as well as more operation with local (44.4% vs. 10.3%, = 0.031) or general anaesthesia (33.3% vs. 2.6%, = 0.017).

Conclusion: The infectious AEs after acupuncture may cause serious outcomes. Patients and primary physicians should be aware of the risk of infectious complications and make efforts to prevent them.