Acupuncture and Tuina Department

The Department of Acupuncture and Massage originated in 1958, when traditional Chinese medicine was introduced into the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Medical College. It once had such renowned acupuncture and massage specialists as Zheng Yugui, Zang Yuwen, Tian Daozheng, Wang Guocai, and Lai Xinsheng. Since its establishment, our department has achieved remarkable results in the field of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. It has an acupuncture and massage experimental research laboratory, laying the foundation for scientific research; in 1960, it participated in and led the meridian research of Shandong Medical College; in 1966, it conducted research on acupuncture anesthesia; in 1977, it conducted experiments on latent conduction along meridians by laser and meridian measurement using light acupuncture; in 1987, it was authorized to confer master's degrees in clinical integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine; in 2003, it was authorized to confer doctoral degrees in clinical integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine; in 2014, it was rated as one of the first key-discipline development units of traditional Chinese medicine in Shandong Province (acupuncture). Our department is a council-member unit of the China Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion and the chair unit of its Acupuncture Branch for General Hospitals, a vice-chair unit of the Shandong Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, a deputy chair unit of the Pain Specialty Committee of the Shandong Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and a vice-chair unit of the Shandong Pain Medicine Association.

Since its establishment, our department has consistently adhered to a patient-centered approach, focused on quality and efficiency, implemented the spiritual concept that medical ethics comes from virtue, strictly enforced the duty and shift-handover systems, ensured the smooth and complete implementation of the three-level physician responsibility system, studied the systems and laws and regulations of medical quality management, and improved professional competence. Our department has the following consultation and treatment rooms: acupuncture room, laser treatment room, moxibustion room, comprehensive treatment room, needle-knife room, massage room, pediatric massage room, expert outpatient clinic, and gastroparesis outpatient clinic; there are 19 outpatient beds.

I. Staff and Departmental Facilities

The department currently has 13 professional staff members, including 1 professor and chief physician, 1 associate professor and deputy chief physician, 6 attending physicians, and 5 resident physicians (including 2 master's supervisors).

In the province, our department was the first to require medical personnel to strictly follow aseptic procedures and standardize medical order. Disposable acupuncture needles are used to ensure treatment safety; disposable bed sheets and treatment sheets are provided, and bed units are enclosed to protect patients' privacy and create a humanized service environment. The department has the Qudubang cervical and lumbar spine therapeutic instrument, acupuncture manipulation therapeutic instrument, Tsinghua Tongfang body composition analyzer, LHH-500Ⅱ, ALD-type 650nm semiconductor laser therapy machine, TDP magic lamp, and various electroacupuncture and electrical anesthesia devices.

II. Distinctive Diagnostic and Treatment Services

Supplementary acupuncture treatment is a distinctive feature of our department. Acupuncture supplements the prevention and treatment of complications caused by surgery, radiotherapy, medication, and other treatments. Research covers acupuncture treatment of postoperative gastroparesis syndrome, early postoperative inflammatory intestinal obstruction, postoperative urinary retention, postoperative hiccups, and post-chemotherapy nausea and vomiting. The current professional directions of our department include acupuncture in general surgery, acupuncture in neurology and vascular medicine, acupuncture in obstetrics and gynecology, acupuncture in pediatrics, acupuncture in oncology, and acupuncture in ophthalmology, otolaryngology, stomatology, and related fields.

Other distinctive diagnostic and treatment services include acupuncture diagnosis and treatment of smooth-muscle motility disorders, hook-needle treatment of tennis elbow, diagnosis and treatment of stroke and its prevention with scar moxibustion, and acupuncture diagnosis and treatment of dysphagia. Our department is the only department in Shandong Province to have introduced hook-needle technology for treating this condition. Local lesions are treated with pushing and scraping, lifting and thrusting, hooking and pulling, vibration, massage, and other techniques to release adhesions and contractures, accelerate local metabolism, improve nutrition at the affected site, and promote tissue repair. Acupuncture, cupping, and other therapies are also used; the cure rate after 2-4 treatments exceeds 70%.

Pediatric massage for infant and young-child diarrhea takes effect quickly, is painless, and has no toxic or side effects; it is generally cured in 1-3 treatments. Other distinctive therapies offered by our department include acupuncture for obesity, massage for intervertebral disc herniation, and massage dredging therapy for acute mastitis.

III. Clinical Services

The indications for outpatient treatment and inpatient consultation in our department are distributed as follows:

Outpatient indications:

Acupuncture treatment: facial nerve paralysis, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, facial muscle spasm, polyradiculitis, pseudobulbar palsy, sequelae of stroke, stiff neck, cervical spondylosis, intervertebral disc herniation, lumbar muscle strain, acute lumbar sprain, periarthritis of the shoulder, tennis elbow, anterior scalene syndrome, piriformis syndrome, and other neuromuscular and skeletal diseases; digestive-system diseases such as cardiospasm, hiccups, gastritis, diarrhea, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, intestinal obstruction, constipation, and gastroptosis; skin diseases such as herpes zoster and urticaria; stomatological diseases such as toothache; obstetric and gynecological diseases such as acute mastitis, irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, menopausal syndrome, and chloasma; and pediatric diseases such as torticollis, enuresis, and cough, fever, and diarrhea in children.

Massage treatment: stiff neck, cervical spondylosis, low back and leg pain, periarthritis of the shoulder, headache, migraine, myofibrositis, intervertebral disc herniation, sprains, lumbar muscle strain, exogenous fever in children, cough in children, pediatric malnutrition, torticollis in children, and diarrhea in infants and young children.

A World Health Organization report indicates that acupuncture can treat 107 diseases and functional disorders, 28 of which are acupuncture indications already confirmed through randomized controlled trials. Our department's consultations cover 20 of these, including stroke, adverse reactions to radiotherapy or chemotherapy, hypertension, postoperative pain, pernicious vomiting of pregnancy, nausea and vomiting, acute upper abdominal pain, facial pain, and headache. Among the other 63 acupuncture indications for which treatment is effective but evidence remains insufficient, postoperative rehabilitation, urinary retention, Bell's palsy, gastric motility disorders, and postherpetic neuralgia occur relatively frequently in consultations, especially postoperative complications. Our department demonstrates a high level in the prevention and treatment of postoperative complications with acupuncture.

Main conditions for consultation: cerebral infarction and sequelae, urinary retention, cerebral hemorrhage and sequelae, acute inflammatory intestinal obstruction, abdominal distension, hiccups, facial paralysis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, intracranial space-occupying lesions, gastroparesis, spinal cord injury, fractures, lumbar spinal canal stenosis, fractures with spinal cord damage, spinal cord lesions, lumbar disc herniation, cervical spondylosis, peripheral neuropathy, craniocerebral trauma, ischemic cerebrovascular disease, myelitis, cervical spinal canal stenosis, nausea and vomiting, coma, thoracic spinal canal stenosis, intracranial infection, urinary incontinence, abdominal pain, intraspinal space-occupying lesions, brachial plexus injury, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, sciatica, sequelae of viral encephalitis, deafness and tinnitus, lumbar spondylolisthesis, peroneal nerve injury, multiple sclerosis, poor appetite, postherpetic neuralgia, systemic vasculitis, malignant thoracic tumor, headache, difficulty with urination and defecation, ophthalmoplegia, knee arthritis, ulnar nerve injury, diarrhea, Parkinson's disease, mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, restless legs syndrome, functional dysphagia, and others.

IV. Teaching and Research

To strengthen learning, facilitate communication, and improve clinical professional competence and scientific research standards, our department regularly conducts academic lectures.

For many years, the department has undertaken teaching, clinical observation and internship programs, as well as domestic and international exchange work, for Shandong University's seven-year and eight-year clinical medicine programs, the School of Nursing, international students, and others. In the past 5 years, it has received nearly 300 visitors from 8 countries or organizations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, for visits, inspections, and academic exchanges. Our physicians have also successfully completed foreign-aid medical missions.