Objectives: This narrative review comprehensively evaluates the clinical efficacy and safety of complex Korean Medicine (KM) treatments in traffic accident patients, comparing them to single or limited interventions. It aims to provide foundational data for establishing revised treatment guidelines and enhancing insurance coverage within the restrictive automobile insurance system.Methods: A literature search was conducted across PubMed, Embase, OASIS, and KoreaMed databases, covering literature up to October 2025. Search terms were based on PICO: Population (traffic accident patients), Intervention (Korean medicine, complex treatment), Comparator (single/limited treatment), Outcome (pain, function, quality of life, safety). The review included studies on musculoskeletal injuries from traffic accidents, utilizing two or more KM interventions, and reporting clinical outcomes. A narrative synthesis analyzed findings due to high study heterogeneity.Results: A total of 16 studies involving approximately 3,000 patients were included. Complex KM treatments, integrating acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, pharmacopuncture, herbal medicine, Chuna manual therapy, and physical therapy, significantly improved pain reduction (13 studies, average 50% decrease), functional recovery (10 studies, NDI 64.2% improvement, ODI 89.1% improvement), and quality of life (5 studies) in traffic accident patients, often outperforming single interventions. Early initiation of these treatments accelerated recovery and reduced hospitalization periods by 77.1%. Complex KM treatments also demonstrated a favorable safety profile, with no serious adverse events reported, even in vulnerable populations including pregnant women. These findings support the clinical utility and safety of multimodal KM approaches.Conclusions: Complex KM treatments offer substantial clinical benefits and safety for traffic accident patients, highlighting their vital role in rehabilitation. This review emphasizes the importance of early, comprehensive intervention and advocates for re-evaluation of current automobile insurance guidelines to expand coverage for these effective therapies. This would enhance patient outcomes, accelerate recovery, and reduce socioeconomic burdens. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials and long-term follow-up studies are warranted to strengthen the evidence base.
Lee et al. (Sun,) studied this question.