BACKGROUND Acupuncture has been widely used as a treatment for stroke in China for more than 3,000 years. However, previous research has not yet shown that acupuncture is effective as a stroke treatment. We report a protocol for a multicenter, randomized, controlled, and outcome assessor-blind trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture on acute ischemic stroke. METHODS/DESIGN In...

Purpose. To evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of quantitative analysis of the morphological corneal changes after orthokeratology treatment using "Image-Pro Plus 6.0" software (IPP). Methods. Three sets of measurements were obtained: two sets by examiner 1 with 5 days apart and one set by examiner 2 on the same day. Parameters of the eccentric distance, eccentric angle, area, and r...

BACKGROUND Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal functional disorder with no effective therapy. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the most common complementary therapies in China. We designed this study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Shun-Qi-Tong-Xie Granule (SQTX Granule), a TCM treatment, in patients with IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D). METHODS/DESIGN A r...

BACKGROUND Around 90% of sciatica cases are due to a herniated intervertebral disc in the lumbar region. Ankle acupuncture (AA) has been reported to be effective in the treatment of acute nonspecific low back pain. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a single session of ankle acupuncture for disc-related sciatica. METHOD This will be a double-blinded, randomized controlled clinical tr...

OBJECTIVES We aim to obtain the intra-subject coefficient of variability of a highly variable antidepressant agomelatine in humans, and propose an adjusted bioequivalence assessment strategy. METHODS A single-dose, randomized crossover design was conducted in four periods (reference administered thrice, placebo administered once) separated by seven days. A validated LC-MS/MS assay was used to...

OBJECTIVE Our aim was to test the hypothesis that electroacupuncture (EA) at acupuncture point LI4 activates specific brain regions by nerve stimulation that is mediatied through a pathway involving the brachial plexus. METHODS Twelve acupuncture naive right-handed volunteers were allocated to receive three sessions of EA at LI4 in a random different order (crossover): (1) EA alone (EA); EA a...

BACKGROUND Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus and the main cause of end-stage renal disease. Present medications for DKD are not entirely satisfactory. Preliminary studies indicate that the Chinese herbal formula Tangshen Formula (TSF) appears to decrease the proteinuria and improve the estimated glomerular filtration rate (e...

BACKGROUND Ultrasound-guided cannulation of deep mid-arm veins by a modified Seldinger (US-Seldinger) technique has been demonstrated to yield better puncture success rates and lower postoperative complication rates than direct cannulation of superficial veins near the elbow with a short peripheral cannula and peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) insertion through the cannula (non-US c...

PURPOSE This study aimed to assess the effects of a psychological intervention programme on the mental stress, coping style and cortisol and IL-2 levels of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS A total of sixty cardiovascular patients scheduled for PCI with clear anxiety and depression screened by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were randomly divided ...

Patients who need both capsule endoscopy (CE) and colonoscopy often undergo both examinations on the same day to avoid repeated bowel preparation and fasting. Sedation can relieve pain and is commonly used for colonoscopies but may influence the CE completion rate.To determine whether sedation with propofol influences the completion rate and small-bowel transit time (SBTT) of CE.From July 2014 ...