Abstract

Introduction: DVT is a major, preventable cause of death worldwide. Ultrasound (US) is universally accepted as the first-line imaging procedure for DVT diagnosis.

Case presentation: Three years ago, a 59-years-old patient detected a painless lesion above the right lateral malleolus. After starting to feel strong, right femoral pain, the patient sought treatment at a community health medical organization (HMO) and was urgently referred to a hospitalization. During a 5-day hospitalization, the patient was diagnosed to suffer from right femoral DVT, according to the venous Doppler US results. The patient was treated with clot-dissolving drugs. Upon discharge from the hospital, the patient was instructed to continue a clot-dissolving drug and to followed-up in an HMO. The patient was instructed to wear an elastic compression stocking on his right leg, and prescribed analgesic and oral antibiotics and. Non-healing of lesion and pain continued for about three years after initial treatment. Since the lesion failed to heal and the pain did not dissipate, the patient decided to attempt acupuncture treatment.

Methods: The patient was treated with 12 sessions I Ching Balance Acupuncture (ICBA) and followed up for the next six months.

Results: Lesion healing setup began during the 1st ICBA session. Following the 3rd session, the patient stopped consuming the analgesic. Complete lesion healing occurred after 12 ICBA sessions and persisted throughout the follow-up period.

Conclusion: ICBA treatment successfully affected the setup of the healing process of an unhealing lesion. Additional large-scale studies are necessary to validate the efficacy of ICBA in thrombosis.

Keywords: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM); I ching balance acupuncture; Thrombosis