Preliminary Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of Needle-Embedding Therapy with Acupuncture for Atopic Dermatitis Patients

OBJECTIVES: Among Traditional Korean Medicine approaches, needle-embedding therapy is used in various fields and consistently studied; however, there have been no clinical studies of the treatment of adult atopic dermatitis (AD) with needle-embedding therapy. Thus, there is a need to investigate the effects of needle-embedding therapy for treatment of AD. This study was performed to identify possible effects of needle-embedding therapy at Quchi acupoint (LI11) on AD and to compare these effects with those of acupuncture therapy. METHODS: A total of 14 participants were enrolled in this study. Participants received acupuncture or needle-embedding treatments for 4 weeks and then were followed for an additional 2 weeks because of safety assessment. The participants were divided into 2 groups: the acupuncture group, receiving treatment at Quchi acupoint (LI11) 3 times per week, and the needle-embedding group, receiving treatment at Quchi acupoint (LI11) once per week. The groups were compared on the basis of the SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index, Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL), skin hydration, and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) at baseline and 1 week after treatment was completed (5th week). RESULTS: The SCORAD index, TEWL, Skin hydration, and DLQI at 1 week after treatment were significantly improved in both groups (p<0.05). However, there were no significant differences between the acupuncture and needle-embedding groups in any of the main evaluation indices (p>0.05). The study participants received a total of 84 acupuncture treatments or 28 needle-embedding treatments. No adverse events occurred during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Based on changes in the SCORAD index, TEWL, skin hydration, and DLQI value, we found that both needle-embedding and acupuncture treatments at the Quchi acupoint (LI11) were effective in decreasing the symptoms of AD and exhibited similar therapeutic effects, which suggests that needle-embedding treatment may be more clinically convenient than acupuncture, with longer effects and fewer treatments.