Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34675553›Full record

ArticleInfection and drug resistance2021

Effective Treatment of Small Uncomplicated Skin Abscesses with Fire Needle: A Case Series.

Huan-Huan Zhang, Chun-Min Zhang, Qing-Qing Xu, Chun-Hong Zhang

Open access · goldAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Infection and drug resistance, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 29% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Huan-Huan ZhangDepartment of Dermato-Venereology, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0001-9954-4830
Chun-Min ZhangDepartment of Dermato-Venereology, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0003-4624-6818
Qing-Qing XuDepartment of Dermato-Venereology, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
Chun-Hong ZhangDepartment of Dermato-Venereology, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0002-1435-2627
Second Hospital of Shandong University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUncomplicated skin abscesses are collections of pus within the skin structure and are usually caused by bacterial infections. Clinically, they are quite common and inevitably affect people of any age. The current management strategies comprise prompt initiation of antibiotics and incision and drainage. However, pain and the long healing process of skin lesions can cause distress to a lot of patients. Fire needling is a characteristic treatment in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has proven effective in treating skin abscesses. Moreover, fire needle therapy has a more desirable cosmetic outcome in contrast to surgical debridement. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the rapid, effective, minimally invasive, and better cosmetic outcomes of fire needles in the treatment of uncomplicated skin abscesses.

methodsA total of 10 patients, aged between 1 and 45 years, with skin abscesses, were recruited. All patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria with lesions less than 4 cm in diameter were topically treated with mupirocin ointment twice a day after fire needle therapy. If the lesion was still purulent after 2 days, it was treated again with fire needle therapy. The efficacy was assessed by a 4-grade scale at 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 12 weeks post-fire needling.

resultsLesions with a diameter of less than 2 cm achieved significant remission (SR) or partial remission (PR), after 2 days post-treatment and reached complete remission (CR) or significant remission (SR) after 1 week following treatment. Meanwhile, lesions with a diameter of 2-4 cm achieved PR after 2 days and were assessed as CR or SR 1 week after post-fire needle therapy. None of the patients had a recurrence within 12 weeks after treatment.

conclusionFire needle therapy is a promising treatment method for uncomplicated skin abscesses smaller than 4 cm, which warrants further in-depth and more large-scale studies.

Indexed as

fire needletraditional Chinese medicineuncomplicated skin abscess

Identifiers

PMID34675553
PMCPMC8502108
OpenAlexW3204520410

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.