Effects of Korean Medicine Treatment at Public Health Center for Post-acute COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Case-series of 11 patients

Chang-hwan Yu; Kwan-Il Kim; Hee-Jae Jung; Beom-joon Lee; Yu, Chang-hwan; Kim, Kwan-Il; Jung, Hee-Jae; Lee, Beom-joon

doi:10.13048/jkm.23021

JKM > Volume 44(2); 2023 > Article

Yu, Kim, Jung, and Lee: Effects of Korean Medicine Treatment at Public Health Center for Post-acute COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Case-series of 11 patients

Original Article

The Journal of Korean Medicine 2023; 44(2): 132-148.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13048/jkm.23021

Effects of Korean Medicine Treatment at Public Health Center for Post-acute COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Case-series of 11 patients

Chang-hwan Yu¹

, Kwan-Il Kim²

, Hee-Jae Jung²

, Beom-joon Lee²^{, *}

¹Daeso Branch office of Eumseong Public Health Center, Eumseong-gun, Republic of Korea

²Division of Allergy, Immune and Respiratory System, Dept. of Internal Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to: Beom-joon Lee, Division of Allergy, Immune and Respiratory System, Dept. of Internal Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, Tel: +82-2-958-9146, Fax: +82-2-3457-9001, E-mail: franchisjun@naver.com

Received April 19, 2023 Revised May 3, 2023 Accepted May 10, 2023

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to determine the clinical features of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome and the effectiveness and safety of Korean medicine treatment at the Public health center.

Methods

The study was conducted among 11 patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome who attended a single public health center from January to December 2022. We retrospectively analyzed the charts of 11 patients and collected clinical characteristics, previous treatments, Korean medicine treatments, outcome variables (Numeral Rating Scale (NRS), Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), Visual Analog Scale (VAS)), adverse events, etc.

Results

Of the 11 patients, six were women, and the average age of all patients was 68.27±12.31 years. The most common symptom were cough(n=9, 81.82%) and sore throat(n=9, 81.82%), followed by sputum, fatigue, rhinorrhea, and loss of appetite, etc. All 11 patients were treated with herbal medicine, with Samso-eum(n=6, 54.55%), Yeonkyopaedok-san(n=5, 45.45%), and Haengso-tang(n=3, 27.27%) being the most commonly used. After herbal medicine treatment, the median cough NRS decreased from 5 to 1, and the median sore throat NRS decreased from 4 to 1, both of which were statistically significant. One patient reported adverse event of dyspepsia and heartburn, but it was mild.

Conclusions

The study presented the clinical features of the post-acute COVID-19 syndrome and suggested that Korean medicine treatment at public health centers may be effective and safe in alleviating associated symptoms.

Keywords: Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, Long COVID, Korean medicine, Herbal medicine, Public Health Center

Supplementary Information

Supplement 1

jkm-44-2-132-Supplementary-1.pdf

Fig. 1

Flow chart for subjects selection

Fig. 2

Frequency of Herbal Medicine Prescriptions

SSE; Samso-eum, YKPDS; Yeonkyopaedok-san, HST; Haengso-tang, SCKBT; Samchulkunbi-tang, SMS; Saengmaek-san, BJIGT; Bojungikgi-tang, BHSST; Banhasasim-tang

Fig. 3

Change of Symptom NRS Before and After Treatments.

a) Cough(n=7) The median pre-treatment NRS is 5 with an interquartile range (IQR) of 2.00, and the median post-treatment NRS is 1 with an IQR of 2.00, b) Sore throat(n=7) The median pre-treatment NRS is 4 with an IQR of 2.50, and the median post-treatment NRS is 1 with an IQR of 1.50

p-value: Wilcoxon signed rank test

* p < 0.05

Table 1

Case Summary of Eleven Patients

Case No.	Sex	Age	BMI	Start day of treatment form confirmation	Symptoms	Comorbidities (⊕ On Medication)	Previous treatments	Herbal medicine	Duration of treatment	Adverse event
1	F	37	19.81	36 days	1. Cough 2. Sore throat 3. Sputum	N/A	Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs	YKPDS	17 days	N/A
2	M	73	25.06	26 days	1. Cough 2. Sore throat 3. Sputum	1. Dyslipidemia ⊕ 2. Rhinitis 3. Irritable bowel syndrome 4. Atrial fibrillation ⊕ 5. h/o Pulmonary Tuberculosis	Antitussives	SSE	17 days	Dyspepsia Heartburn
3	M	68	26.37	175 days	1. Cough 2. Sore throat 3. Sputum 4. Rhinorrhea 5. Sweating	1. Hypertension ⊕ 2. Diabetes mellitus ⊕ 3. Dyslipidemia ⊕ 4. Rhinitis	N/A	1st SSE 2nd YKPDS	34 days	N/A
4	F	59	22.66	70 days	1. Cough 2. Sore throat 3. Fatigue	1. h/o Pulmonary Tuberculosis	Steroid inhaler	SSE	27 days	N/A
5	M	73	23.15	61 days	1. Sore throat 2. Fatigue	1. Hypertension ⊕ 2. Rhinitis 3. h/o Pulmonary Tuberculosis 4. Gout ⊕	N/A	SSE	30 days	N/A
6	M	66	25.90	70 days	1. Cough 2. Sore throat 3. Rhinorrhea	1. Hypertension ⊕ 2. Rhinitis 3. h/o Gastric cancer	Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, Antitussives	YKPDS	20 days	N/A
7	F	76	N/A	22 days	1. Cough 2. Sputum 3. Fatigue 4. Anorexia 5. Sweating 6. Diarrhea	1. Hypertension ⊕ 2. h/o Gastric cancer	N/A	1st SSE & SCKBT 2nd HST & SCKBT 3rd HST & BJIGT	21 days	N/A
8	F	81	N/A	180 days	1. Rhinorrhea 2. Fatigue 3. Anorexia 4. Chilling	1. Hypertension ⊕ 2. Angina pectoris ⊕	N/A	1st SSE 2nd SCKBT	21 days	N/A
9	M	75	N/A	36 days	1. Cough 2. Sore throat	N/A	N/A	1st YKPDS & SMS 2nd HST & SMS 3rd HST	21 days	N/A
10	F	79	N/A	183 days	1. Cough 2. Sore throat	1. Hypertension ⊕ 2. Diabetes mellitus ⊕	Western medication	1st YKPDS 2nd BHSST 3rd YKPDS	14 days	N/A
11	F	64	27.24	35 days	1. Cough 2. Sore throat	1. Diabetes mellitus ⊕ 2. Dyslipidemia ⊕	N/A	HST	10 days	N/A

Table 2

Frequency of the Symptoms in Patients

Symptom	Number of Patients (%)
Cough	9 (81.82)
Sore throat	9 (81.82)
Sputum	4 (36.36)
Fatigue	4 (36.36)
Rhinorrhea	3 (27.27)
Sweating	2 (18.18)
Anorexia	2 (18.18)
Diarrhea	1 (9.09)
Chilling	1 (9.09)

Table 3

Numeral Rating Scale(NRS) Change of Patients symptoms(Others)

Case No.	NRS Change of symptoms (before → after treatment)

	Rhinorrhea	Sputum	Diarrhea	Anorexia	Fatigue	Sweating
3	7→0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
7	N/A	5→1	2→0	6→1	7→2	6→2

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