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Bilateral pneumothoraces as a complication of acupuncture

J W Su1, C H Lim, Y L Chua

  • 1Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, National Heart Centre, Mistri Wing, 17 Third Hospital Avenue, Singapore 168752. bottle1001@yahoo.com

Singapore Medical Journal
|January 25, 2007
PubMed

Pneumothorax developing secondary to acupuncture is rare. However, in an undiagnosed case, it may cause fatality. The real incidence of acupuncture-related pneumothorax is not known but is acknowledged to be underdiagnosed and under-reported. We describe pneumothorax occurring in a 52-year-old woman who developed bilateral pneumothoraces, with one side being a tension pneumothorax, immediately following acupuncture. The needle was inserted at a paravertebral point at the level of the third vertebral spinous process.

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