Leg amputated after acupuncture treatment

A 47-year-old man had his left lower leg amputated after developing a severe bacterial infection days following acupuncture at two traditional Chinese medicine clinics.

The Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said the man developed a fever and thigh pain on April 11 and was later diagnosed with septic shock and necrotising fasciitis, also known as a “flesh-eating infection”.

“During the investigation, the team suspected that the Chinese medicine practitioner had not strictly followed infection control procedures when performing acupuncture,” a CHP spokesman said. After initial treatment at a private hospital, the patient was transferred to Queen Mary Hospital on April 12, where doctors performed the amputation the following day.