GB/T 21709.10-2008Standardized manipulations of acupuncture and moxibustion - Part 10: Thread-embedding therapy (English PDF)

Foreword

GB/T 21709 Standardized manipulations of acupuncture and moxibustion is divided into twenty-one parts: Part 1: Moxibustion; Part 2: Scalp acupuncture; Part 3: Ear acupuncture; Part 4: Three-edged needle; Part 5: Cupping; Part 6: Acupoint injection; Part 7: Cutaneous needle; Part 8: Intradermal needle; Part 9: Acupoint application; Part 10: Thread-embedding therapy; Part 11: Electroacupuncture; Part 12: Fire needling; Part 13: Long needle; Part 14: Tui-na; Part 15: Eye acupuncture; Part 16: Nose acupuncture; Part 17: Lip acupuncture; Part 18: Abdominal acupuncture; Part 19: Wrist-ankle acupuncture; Part 20: Basic insertion manipulation of filiform needle; Part 21: Needling manipulation of filiform needle.

This part is Part 10 of GB/T 21709.

Annexes A, B, C and D of this part are all informative annexes.

This part was proposed by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is under the jurisdiction of the China Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion.

1 Scope

The Chinese national protocol for thread-embedding, the acupuncture technique in which a length of absorbable surgical suture is left inside an acupoint so that it goes on stimulating the point for days or weeks instead of the twenty minutes a needle would give. Because the thread stays in the body, the technique sits on the boundary between acupuncture and minor surgery: the operator is making a puncture, leaving foreign material behind, and depending on absorption to remove it, so the things that can go wrong are infection, a thread end left protruding through the skin, damage to a viscus or a nerve, and reaction in patients whose tissue does not absorb properly. This part of GB/T 21709 answers that by specifying the terms and definitions, the operating procedure and requirements, the precautions and the contraindications for thread-embedding at acupoints. It applies to the operation of the thread-embedding technique. The procedure clause takes the practitioner through the preparation - choosing the instruments and the thread against the product standards for acupuncture needles, single-use sterile injection needles, medical suture needles and absorbable sutures, choosing the site and the patient's position, the requirements on the room, and the disinfection of instruments, site and operator - and then through the three ways the thread is placed, with a trocar, with a thread-embedding needle, or with a medical suture needle. Four informative annexes cover the anaesthesia commonly used, the handling of a thread that has become exposed, the indications and the course of treatment, and the handling of post-operative reactions. It is Part 10 of a twenty-one part standard covering the whole of acupuncture and moxibustion practice.

This part of GB/T 21709 specifies the terms and definitions, the operating procedure and requirements, the precautions and the contraindications of thread-embedding at acupoints.

This part applies to the operation of the acupoint thread-embedding technique.

2 Normative references

The provisions of the following documents become provisions of this part through being referred to in this part of GB/T 21709. For dated references, subsequent amendments (excluding corrections) or revisions do not apply to this part; however, the parties to agreements based on this part are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions. For undated references, the latest edition applies to this part.

GB 2024 Acupuncture needles.

GB 15811 Sterile hypodermic needles for single use.

GB 15980 Hygienic standard of disinfection for single-use medical products.

GB 15981 Evaluating methods and standard for the efficacy of disinfection and sterilization.

YY 0043 Medical suture needles.

YY 1116 Absorbable surgical sutures.

YY/T 91148 Lumbar puncture needles.

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this part of GB/T 21709, the following terms and definitions apply.

5 Precautions

Strict aseptic technique shall be observed during the operation, so as to prevent infection.

After the thread has been embedded, the end of the absorbable surgical suture that is to remain in the body shall not protrude outside the body; if it does become exposed, it shall be dealt with accordingly, and the method of dealing with it is given in Annex B.

The indications of this method and the course of treatment are given in Annex C.

After the thread has been embedded, the patient shall be followed up regularly and any post-operative reaction dealt with in good time; the method of dealing with post-operative reactions is given in Annex D.

Thread-embedding therapy shall be used with caution on the lower abdomen and the lumbosacral region of pregnant women, and at the other acupoints where acupuncture is to be used with caution.

Thread-embedding therapy shall be used with caution when the patient is mentally tense, is sweating heavily, is fatigued, or is hungry.

Thread-embedding therapy shall be used with caution in patients with a tendency to bleed.

6 Contraindications

The appropriate depth and angle shall be chosen according to the acupoint when the thread is embedded. The site at which the thread is embedded shall not hinder the normal function and movement of the body. Injury to the viscera, the spinal cord, the great vessels and the nerve trunks shall be avoided, and the thread shall not be embedded inside a joint cavity.

The thread shall not be embedded where there is skin disease, inflammation, ulceration or a break in the skin locally.

Thread-embedding therapy shall not be used in patients whose skin and subcutaneous tissue have an impaired capacity for absorption and repair as a result of diabetes or of other diseases.