Prevalence of and factors associated with trauma surgeons' referral and patients' willingness to acupuncture treatment after traumatic rib fractures: A single-center cross-sectional study

Background

Pain after traumatic rib fractures (TRF) detrimentally affects the injured. Multidisciplinary pain management is crucial for patient care. There is little empirical evidence on acupuncture as a multidisciplinary treatment for patients with TRF. This study aimed to illustrate the characteristics of the patients referred for or received acupuncture and explore the associated factors.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study of Korean Trauma Data Bank and electronic medical records of patients aged 19 or older with TRF from August 2016 to October 2021 in the regional trauma center of Pusan National University Hospital. The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients referred for acupuncture by trauma surgeons and those who received acupuncture were analysed descriptively. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, associations between covariates and either surgeon referrals for or patient willingness to receive acupuncture were quantitatively estimated.

Results

Among 2,937 injured patients, trauma surgeons referred 178 (6.1 %) to acupuncture. Among the referred patients, 111 (72.1 %) underwent acupuncture. Patients with polytrauma (aOR 0.46; 0.30 to 0.68) were less likely to be referred to acupuncture, whereas female patients (aOR 3.92, 1.31 to 11.77) were most likely to receive acupuncture.

Conclusions

A small proportion of patients with TRF were referred for acupuncture, but the referred patients were more likely to receive acupuncture. Polytrauma may be an important criterion for referral to acupuncture services from the perspective of trauma surgeons, while the willingness to receive acupuncture may be associated with gender-related factors. Further studies are warranted to investigate the role of acupuncture in the postinjury care of patients with TRF.