Integrative traditional Korean medicine treatment for children with idiopathic short stature: A STROBE-compliant case series.

Integrative traditional Korean medicine (TKM) treatment including herbal medicine and acupuncture has been used frequently by parents in South Korea for the treatment of children with idiopathic short stature (ISS). We aimed to report the TKM treatments currently being used for children with ISS and explore their therapeutic effects. The medical records of children who met the criteria for ISS and who had been treated with TKM for the management of ISS were retrospectively reviewed. In total, 116 patients (mean [standard deviation] age, 8.07 [3.08] years; 52.6% girls) enrolled in the study. Their mean height percentile was 1.45 and body mass index was 16.19 kg/m2. During the study period of 5 years, participants visited the outpatient clinic an average of 2.93 times; the mean number of days to the next visit was 101 days. All patients received herbal medicine treatment, and the formulation was mainly decoction type. Additional treatments including ear acupuncture and moxibustion were also used. After treatment with TKM, the height percentile and standard deviation scores increased in both girls and boys (P < .001 and P < .01, respectively). Additionally, the predicted adult height, estimated based on bone age, increased in girls (P < .05). This study provided preliminary data for future research in TKM use in children with ISS.