title: A case study of 20 patients with lateral epicondylitis of the elbow by using hwachim (burning acupuncture therapy) and sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was performed to estimate the effectiveness of burning acupuncture therapy (Hwachim) and sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture (S-BV pharmacopuncture) in treating lateral epicondylitis of elbow.
  
  
  METHODS
  We selected 33 patients at first, but 13 patients were excluded due to unclear medical records. Finally, a total of 20 patients who had received treatment from January 2012 to December 2013 were included in this study; all 20 patients had undergone Hwachim for the treatment of lateral epicondylitis of elbow, and 19 of the 20 had been treated with S-BV pharmacopuncture (Korea Pharmacopuncture Institute, KPI) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) as an ancillary treatment method. The degrees of pain of the 20 patients were evaluated by using the visual analogue scale (VAS) score at their first and final visits. The Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the VAS scores statistically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The VAS score had decreased significantly from 10.00 ± 0.00 to 4.00 ± 2.47 (P = 0.000) by the end of the treatment. No significant changes were observed based on the number of treatments (P = 0.246), the age of the patients (P = 0.810), the duration of the illness (P = 0.705), and the location of the lesion (P = 0.076).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests Hwachim and S-BV pharmacopuncture are very effective for treating lateral epicondylitis of the elbow.
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Semyung University Korean Medicine Hospital, Chungju, Korea.
authors.forename: Seho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Semyung University Korean Medicine Hospital, Chungju, Korea.
authors.forename: Chamgeol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Semyung University Korean Medicine Hospital, Chungju, Korea.
authors.forename: Inho
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Semyung University Korean Medicine Hospital, Chungju, Korea.
authors.forename: Heejin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Semyung University Korean Medicine Hospital, Jecheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeongdu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roh
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Semyung University Korean Medicine Hospital, Jecheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Nayoung
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine, Semyung University Korean Medicine Hospital, Chungju, Korea.
authors.forename: Eunyong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: burning acupuncture therapy; hwachim; lateral epicondylitis; sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture