Acupuncture gone awry: a case report of a patient who required surgical removal of two single-use filament needles following acupuncture treatment

ABSTRACT

Background: Acupuncture and dry needling are increasingly popular treatment modalities used to treat pain around the world. This case report documents the clinical history of a patient who presented to an outpatient physical therapy clinic following surgical removal of two single-use filament needles that fractured in the patient’s neck during acupuncture treatment.

Case Description: The purpose of this case report was to highlight a rare adverse event following acupuncture treatment. The patient received the acupuncture treatment from a practitioner licensed in acupuncture, while on an international business trip. Following the acupuncture treatment, the practitioner realized that a needle had fractured and remained in the patient’s neck. After failing to retrieve the needle, the patient was sent for imaging. Radiograph revealed that the patient had two needle fragments located in his cervical tissue. After determining that the needles did not pose an immediate threat, the patient boarded a flight home to the United States. Following his flight, the patient presented to an American hospital where it was discovered that the needle fragments had migrated during the flight, with one needle now located 2 mm from the patient’s vertebral artery. Surgical intervention was required to retrieve the needles, resulting in the patient needing physical therapy to increase cervical range of motion and mediate pain relief.

Outcomes: The patient suffered a setback in his treatment of chronic neck pain that resulted in decreased cervical range of motion and increased pain.

Discussion: Clinicians utilizing single-use filiform needles in their practice, whether for acupuncture or dry needling, should be aware of the potential for this type of adverse event. Further, to minimize the risk of similar adverse events occurring in the future, clinicians should make sure that they are using high quality needles and make a habit of counting in and counting out the needles that they use to verify that all needles are accounted for.

KEYWORDS:

• Acupuncture
• dry needling
• filiform needles
• adverse events
• acupuncturist
• physical therapy
• chronic neck pain
• complications

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Data Availability

No data are associated with this paper.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was provided for this report.

Notes on contributors

Drew D. Snyder

Drew D. Snyder is a licensed physical therapist working as a PRN physical therapist at UH Avon Rehab Hospital in Avon, Ohio while pursuing a law degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Drew received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Youngstown State University in 2017. Currently, he serves as the Chair of the Ohio Physical Therapy Association's Early Professional Special Interest Group.