Treatment of Obesity by Catgut Embedding: An Evidence-Based Systematic Analysis

Abstract

Catgut embedding therapy has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of many conditions, such as perimenopausal syndrome, chronic urticaria, depressive neurosis, refractory insomnia, obesity, sciatica, etc. Treating obesity with catgut embedding is commonly believed to be effective and better than Western medical practice. It involves weekly infixing 10 to 15 surgical chromic catgut sutures into the subcutaneous tissue of the extremities and abdomen with a specialised needle under aseptic precautions. Even though this traditional treatment is considered safe, a complication has recently been reported in this journal.1 There is still no evidence-based consensus on the contribution of catgut embedding to the …