本帖最后由 克 飞 于 2013-8-22 00:24 编辑
国家邮报：加拿大奥运女将恶梦，被针灸永久性伤肺
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/04/judo-acupuncture-needle/
As a world-class judoka, Kim Ribble-Orr weathered an extraordinary amount of adversity – not to mention battered limbs — to achieve her dream of competing in the Olympics.
When a massage therapist tried to treat the headaches she suffered after a 2006 car crash with acupuncture, however, he set off a cascade of health problems that would shatter Ms. Ribble-Orr’s sports-centred life — and raise questions about the popular needle therapy.
The therapist accidentally pierced Ms. Ribble-Orr’s left lung during acupuncture treatment that was later deemed unnecessary and ill-advised, causing the organ to collapse and leaving it permanently damaged. An Ontario court has just upheld the one-year disciplinary suspension imposed on therapist Scott Spurrell, rejecting his appeal in a case that highlights a rare but well-documented side effect of acupuncture. Mr. Spurrell, who learned the ancient Chinese art on weekends at a local university, had no reason to stick the needle in his patient’s chest, and had wrongly advised Ms. Ribble-Orr that the chest pain and other symptoms she reported later were likely just from a muscle spasm, a discipline tribunal ruled. Justice Harriet Sachs of the Ontario divisional court confirmed the College of Massage Therapists’ ruling in a recent judgment. Ms. Ribble-Orr, 39, said she continues to suffer from the “nightmare” aftermath of the incident, her plans to enter mixed-martial arts or pursue a career in policing finished, activities as simple as walking up the stairs leaving her out of breath. “It just ruined my life, it just changed it drastically,” said the Hamilton, Ont., resident. “I had six knee surgeries [while competing in judo]. Doctors counted me out so many times, told me to quit. They were frustrated I wouldn’t stop… But this thing actually beat me and it’s hard to swallow.” Mr. Spurrell could not be reached and his lawyer, Amanda Smallwood, declined to comment. The therapist had argued in his disciplinary hearing, however, that the collapsed lung might have another cause, that the acupuncture technique was appropriate, and that it would be unreasonable to expect therapists to advise patients to go to the hospital whenever they reported symptoms like Ms. Ribble-Orr’s. http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/gl-070313-massagepuncture-4.jpg?w=300&h=450Glenn Lowson photo for National PostRibble-Orr shows her scar from surgery to remove the infection caused by a punctured lung, in Burlington on July 3, 2013.
Regardless, the regulatory college had never seen a discipline complaint involving serious injury to a patient of any kind, let alone one with such devastating consequences, noted Richard Shekter, the agency’s lawyer. “It’s an unusual set of facts,” he said, noting that one of the country’s leading lung surgeons had testified that penetrating the chest at that spot was a perilous activity. “He said the area that this particular fellow was needling is an exceedingly high-risk area and you need compelling reasons to go in there.” Acupuncture involves inserting solid needles into the body at specific points to encourage natural healing, improve mood and relieve pain, among other benefits, according to the Acupuncture Foundation of Canada Institute. Proponents tout it as a safe, drug-free alternative to traditional medicine, one that is used by close to one in 10 Canadians, a 2007 Alberta study suggested. A Danish analysis of randomized clinical trials in 2009, however, concluded that acupuncture offered only a slight, clinically irrelevant benefit over placebo acupuncture for pain. Research has also indicated that pneumothorax — a lung collapsed by air in the chest cavity — is a rare complication. A 2012 British Medical Journal study found reports of five acupuncture-linked pneumothorax cases over two years. While the Ontario government recently set up a new college to regulate acupuncture and other types of traditional Chinese medicine, other health professions already allow their members to practice the art with some additional training, Mr. Shekter noted. The massage therapists’ college, for instance, requires that its professionals complete certain accredited courses. Mr. Spurrell did the acupuncture program at McMaster University, provided over five three-day weekends, plus 174 hours of “self-directed home study,” according to its web site. http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/gl-070313-massagepuncture-8.jpg?w=620&h=359Glenn Lowson photo for National PostKim Ribble-Orr near her work in Burlington on July 3, 2013.
Long before her acupuncture mishap, Ms. Ribble-Orr had extensive experience with the health-care system. Her various injuries — both from judo and other mishaps — included a dislocated elbow and shoulder, a broken hand, head injuries and repeated knee injuries that threatened to end her career shortly before the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She also suffered a dislocated jaw in the run-up to the Games, but still managed to compete. By mid-2006, Ms. Ribble-Orr was moving into the fast-developing sport of mixed-martial arts, while also eyeing a police job, and recovering from a car accident. She had already seen Mr. Spurrell five times when she visited him on June 21, complaining particularly of pounding headaches. http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/picture_2-2.jpg?w=300&h=451CP PHOTO / COAKimberly Ribble-Orr Canada competes in the judo event at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
He convinced her he could curb the head pain by inserting a two-inch needle into a muscle located between the clavicle bone and ribs, the discipline ruling said. Shortly after leaving the clinic, Ms. Ribble-Orr began having difficulty breathing, chest pain and a “grinding” sensation. She returned to the therapist later, wondering if she had suffered a pneumothorax. He told her it was more likely a muscle spasm, but said she could go to the hospital if she felt it was more serious or if the symptoms worsened. The next morning, she did feel worse and finally headed to the emergency department. Ms. Ribble-Orr’s lung had indeed collapsed and she spent the next two weeks in hospital, as a serious lung infection and then a blood infection followed. She was left with just 55% function in one lung. Mick Orr, her husband, said this week that he remembers how his wife had such powerful lungs before the acupuncture mishap that she could blow out a candle from across the room. Now, she gets breathless climbing stairs, and frequently uses a puffer. Complicating matters are hallucinations and other neurological symptoms that some doctors believe were caused or exacerbated by the post-acupuncture infections, and others say are due to the earlier car accident. | 
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发表于 2013-8-21 20:30:44
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