Huijuan Cao

Clinical research evidence of cupping therapy in China: a systematic literature review

BackgroundThough cupping therapy has been used in China for thousands of years, there has been no systematic summary of clinical research on it.This review is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of cupping therapy using evidence-based approach based on all available clinical studies.MethodsWe included all clinical studies on cupping therapy for all kinds of diseases. We searched six electronic databases, all searches ended in December 2008. We extracted data on the type of cupping and type of diseases treated.Results550 clinical studies were identified published between 1959 and 2008, including 73 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 22 clinical controlled trials, 373 case series, and 82 case reports. Number of RCTs obviously increased during past decades, but the quality of the RCTs was generally poor according to the risk of bias of the Cochrane standard for important outcome within each trials. The diseases in which cupping was commonly employed included pain conditions, herpes zoster, cough or asthma, etc. Wet cupping was used in majority studies, followed by retained cupping, moving cupping, medicinal cupping, etc. 38 studies used combination of two types of cupping therapies. No serious adverse effects were reported in the studies.ConclusionsAccording to the above results, quality and quantity of RCTs on cupping therapy appears to be improved during the past 50 years in China, and majority of studies show potential benefit on pain conditions, herpes zoster and other diseases. However, further rigorous designed trials in relevant conditions are warranted to support their use in practice.

Traditional Chinese Medicine for Treatment of Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

BACKGROUNDnTraditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is popular for treatment of fibromyalgia (FM) although there is a lack of comprehensive evaluation of current clinical evidence for TCMs therapeutic effect and safety.nnnOBJECTIVEnTo review systematically the beneficial and harmful effects of TCM therapies for FM.nnnMETHODSnWe searched six English and Chinese electronic databases for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on TCM for treatment of FM. Two authors extracted data and assessed the trial quality independently. RevMan 5 software was used for data analyses with an effect estimate presented as mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI).nnnRESULTSnTwenty-five RCTs were identified with 1516 participants for this review. Seven trials (28%) were evaluated as having a low risk of bias and the remaining trials were identified as being as unclear or having a high risk of bias. Overall, ten trials were eligible for the meta-analysis, and data from remaining 15 trials were synthesized qualitatively. Acupuncture reduced the number of tender points (MD, -3.21; 95% CI -4.23 to -2.11; p < 0.00001, I(2) = 0%), and pain scores compared with conventional medications (MD, -1.78; 95% CI, -2.24 to -1.32; p < 0.00001; I(2) = 0%). Acupuncture showed no significant effect, with a random-effect model, compared with sham acupuncture (MD, -0.55; 95% CI, -1.35-0.24; p = 0.17; I(2) = 69%), on pain reduction. A combination of acupuncture and cupping therapy was better than conventional medications for reducing pain (MD, -1.66; 95% CI, -2.14 to -1.19; p < 0.00001; I(2) = 0%), and for improving depression scores with related to FM (MD, -4.92; 95% CI, -6.49 to -3.34; p < 0.00001; I(2) = 32%). Other individual trials demonstrated positive effects of Chinese herbal medicine on pain reduction compared with conventional medications. There were no serious adverse effects reported that were related to TCM therapies in these trials.nnnCONCLUSIONSnTCM therapies appear to be effective for treating FM. However, further large, rigorously designed trials are warranted because of insufficient methodological rigor in the included trials.

Complementary and alternative medicine for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review

BackgroundThroughout the world, patients with chronic diseases/illnesses use complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). The use of CAM is also substantial among patients with diseases/illnesses of unknown aetiology. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also termed myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is no exception. Hence, a systematic review of randomised controlled trials of CAM treatments in patients with CFS/ME was undertaken to summarise the existing evidence from RCTs of CAM treatments in this patient population.MethodsSeventeen data sources were searched up to 13th August 2011. All randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of any type of CAM therapy used for treating CFS were included, with the exception of acupuncture and complex herbal medicines; studies were included regardless of blinding. Controlled clinical trials, uncontrolled observational studies, and case studies were excluded.ResultsA total of 26 RCTs, which included 3,273 participants, met our inclusion criteria. The CAM therapy from the RCTs included the following: mind-body medicine, distant healing, massage, tuina and tai chi, homeopathy, ginseng, and dietary supplementation. Studies of qigong, massage and tuina were demonstrated to have positive effects, whereas distant healing failed to do so. Compared with placebo, homeopathy also had insufficient evidence of symptom improvement in CFS. Seventeen studies tested supplements for CFS. Most of the supplements failed to show beneficial effects for CFS, with the exception of NADH and magnesium.ConclusionsThe results of our systematic review provide limited evidence for the effectiveness of CAM therapy in relieving symptoms of CFS. However, we are not able to draw firm conclusions concerning CAM therapy for CFS due to the limited number of RCTs for each therapy, the small sample size of each study and the high risk of bias in these trials. Further rigorous RCTs that focus on promising CAM therapies are warranted.

Does Traditional Chinese Medicine Pattern Affect Acupoint Specific Effect?Analysis of Data from a Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial for Primary Dysmenorrhea

OBJECTIVESnThis study assessed the importance of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) pattern on an acupoint-specific effect.nnnDESIGNnThis was a TCM pattern subdivision analysis of the first intervention data from a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial (ISRCTN24863192) (the main trial).nnnSETTINGSnThe main trial recruited participants from six hospitals in three provinces in China.nnnSUBJECTSnFive hundred and one (501) participants diagnosed with primary dysmenorrhea (PD) were enrolled in the main trial.nnnINTERVENTIONSnThe main trial randomly and equally divided participants into three treatment groups with bilateral electroacupuncture at three sites, respectively: Sanyinjiao (SP6), Xuanzhong (GB39), and an adjacent nonacupoint. Participants were diagnosed with TCM patterns before the treatment. The intervention was carried out when the visual analogue scale (VAS) score of participants menstrual pain was ≥ 40 mm on the first day of menstruation and lasted for 30 minutes.nnnOUTCOME MEASURESnThe immediate improvement of pain was measured with a 100-mm VAS before the intervention, at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 30 minutes during the intervention, and at 30 minutes after the completion of this intervention.nnnRESULTSnThree (3) TCM patterns (n=320) were eligible for analysis, including Cold and Dampness Stagnation pattern (n=184), Qi and Blood Stagnation pattern (n=84), and Qi and Blood Deficiency pattern (n=52). In Cold and Dampness Stagnation pattern, the SP6 group had a significant reduction in VAS scores compared with the GB39 group (mean difference -7.6 mm) and the nonacupoint group (mean difference -8.2 mm), respectively. There was no difference between the latter two groups. There were no group differences in VAS scores in the other two patterns.nnnCONCLUSIONSnIt suggested that TCM pattern might affect acupoint specific effect on the immediate pain relief obtained for participants with PD.

Acupoint stimulation for fibromyalgia: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Background. Acupoint stimulation is popular for treatment of fibromyalgia though there is lack of comprehensive evaluation of current clinical evidence for its effect and safety. Objective. To systematically review the beneficial effects and safety of acupoint stimulation for fibromyalgia. Methods. We searched six electronic databases for randomized trials on acupoint stimulation for treatment of fibromyalgia. Two authors extracted data and assessed the trial quality independently. RevMan 5.2 software was used for data analyses with effect estimate presented as (standard) mean difference and a 95% confidence interval. We defined minimum, medium, and large SMD effect sizes as 0.3, 0.5, and 0.75. Results. 16 RCTs with 1081 participants were involved in this review. Only two trials were evaluated as low risk of bias. Meta-analysis showed that acupuncture alone or combined with cupping therapy was superior to conventional medications on reducing pain scores and/or the number of tender points. However, acupuncture showed no better than sham acupuncture on pain reduction. There was no serious adverse event reported to be related to acupoint stimulation. Conclusions. Acupoint stimulation appears to be effective in treating fibromyalgia compared with medications. However, further large, rigorously designed trials are warranted due to insufficient methodological rigor in the included trials.

Effectiveness of acupuncture for angina pectoris: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

BackgroundThe purpose of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture for angina pectoris.MethodsEleven electronic databases were searched until January 2013. The study included randomized controlled trials that the effectiveness of acupuncture alone was compared to anti-angina medicines (in addition to conventional treatment) and the effectiveness of a combination of acupuncture plus anti-angina medicines was compared to anti-angina medicines alone. The trial selection, data extraction, quality assessment and data analytic procedures outlined in the 2011 Cochrane Handbook were involved.ResultsThe study included 25 randomized controlled trials (involving 2,058 patients) that met our inclusion criteria. The pooled results showed that the number of patients with ineffectiveness of angina relief was less in the combined acupuncture-anti-angina treatment group than in the anti-angina medicines alone group (RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.23-0.47, pu2009<u20090.00001, I2u2009=u20090%). Similarly, compared to the anti-angina medicines alone group, fewer patients in the combined treatment group showed no ECG improvement (RR 0.50, 95% CI 0.40-0.62, pu2009<u20090.00001, I2u2009=u20090%). However, no differences were observed between acupuncture treatment alone and anti-angina medicines alone for both outcome measures. Only four trials mentioned adverse effects. One trial found no significant difference between acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and three reported no adverse events. The quality of the trials was found to be low.ConclusionsThe findings showed very low evidence to support the use of acupuncture for improving angina symptoms and ECG of angina patients. However, the quality of the trials included in this study was low. Large and rigorously designed trials are needed to confirm the potential benefit and adverse events of acupuncture.

P04.46. Cupping therapy for facial paralysis: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Methods We included all RCTs on cupping therapy for facial paralysis, combination of cupping therapy and other TCM treatments versus other non-TCM therapies were excluded. We searched four databases. All searches ended in December 2010. Methodological qualities of the included trials were evaluated according to criteria of Cochrane Reviewer’s Handbook. Outcome data were summarized using risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for binary outcomes or mean difference (MD) with 95% CI for continuous outcomes. RevMan 5.0.20 software was used for data analyses. Meta-analysis was used if the trials had a good homogeneity, which were assessed by examining I.

Cupping therapy versus acupuncture for pain-related conditions : a systematic review of randomized controlled trials and trial sequential analysis

BackgroundBoth cupping therapy and acupuncture have been used in China for a long time, and their target indications are pain-related conditions. There is no systematic review comparing the effectiveness of these two therapies.ObjectivesTo compare the beneficial effectiveness and safety between cupping therapy and acupuncture for pain-related conditions to provide evidence for clinical practice.MethodsProtocol of this review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42016050986). We conducted literature search from six electronic databases until 31st March 2017. We included randomized trials comparing cupping therapy with acupuncture on pain-related conditions. Methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated by risk of bias tool. Mean difference, risk ratio, risk difference and their 95% confidence interval were used to report the estimate effect of the pooled results through meta-analysis or the results from each individual study. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) was applied to adjust random errors and calculate the sample size.ResultsTwenty-three randomized trials with 2845 participants were included covering 12 pain-related conditions. All included studies were of poor methodological quality. Three meta-analyses were conducted, which showed similar clinical beneficial effects of cupping therapy and acupuncture for the rate of symptom improvement in cervical spondylosis (RR 1.13, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.26; nxa0=xa0646), lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis (RR 1.10, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.22; nxa0=xa0102) and scapulohumeral periarthritis (RR 1.31, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.51; nxa0=xa0208). Results from other outcomes (such as visual analogue and numerical rating scale) in each study also showed no statistical significant difference between these two therapies for all included pain-related conditions. The results of TSA for cervical spondylosis demonstrated that the current available data have not reached a powerful conclusion. No serious adverse events related to cupping therapy or acupuncture was found in included studies.ConclusionCupping therapy and acupuncture are potentially safe, and they have similar effectiveness in relieving pain. However, further rigorous studies investigating relevant pain-related conditions are warranted to establish comparative effectiveness analysis between these two therapies. Cost-effectiveness studies should be considered in the future studies to establish evidence for decision-making in clinical practice.

A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials on Oral Chinese Herbal Medicine for Prostate Cancer.

Background Prostate cancer is the most common malignant tumor associated with male reproductive system. Objective The existing eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were critically appraised for the safety and effectiveness of CHM for prostate cancer. Methods A literature search was conducted by using PubMed, CENTRAL, CNKI, CBM, VIP and Wanfang databases until August 2015. RCTs of CHM or CHM plus conventional medicine for prostate cancer patients were included. The primary outcomes appraised were survival time, time to progression and quality of life. The risk of bias assessment according to the Cochrane Handbook was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included trials. Revman 5.3 software was used for data analyses. Risk ratio and mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were used as effect measures. Meta-analysis was to be used if sufficient trials without obvious clinical or statistical heterogeneity were available. Results A total of 17 RCTs involving 1224 participants were analyzed. One trial was about CHM comparing to no treatment. The remaining 16 trials used CHMs as adjunctive treatment for endocrine therapy. Due to the poor quality of methodologies of most trials, only limited evidence showed that a combination of CHM and endocrine therapy might be more effective in restraining the development of the disease (MD 10.37 months, 95%CI 9.10 to 11.63 months), increasing patients’ survival time (7–15 months) or improving patients’ performance status, when compared to endocrine therapy alone (Karnofsky performance scale average changed 15 scores between groups). No severe adverse event was reported related to CHM. Conclusion Due to the insufficient quality of trials that were analyzed, it is not appropriate to recommend any kind of CHMs in treating prostate cancer at the present time. Well-designed trials with high methodological quality are needed to validate the effect of CHMs for patients with prostate cancer.

Oral administration of Chinese herbal medicine during gestation period for preventing hemolytic disease of the newborn due to ABO incompatibility: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Background About 85.3% of hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) is caused by maternal-fetal ABO blood group incompatibility. However, there is currently no recommended “best” therapy for ABO incompatibility during pregnancy. Objectives To systematically assess the safety and effectiveness of oral Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for preventing HDN due to ABO incompatibility. Methods The protocol of this review was registered on the PROSPERO website (No. CRD42016038637).Six databases were searched from inception to April 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CHM for maternal-fetal ABO incompatibility were included. The primary outcome was incidence of HDN. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the methodological quality of included trials. Risk ratios (RR) and mean differences with 95% confidence interval were used as effect measures. Meta-analyses using Revman 5.3 software were conducted if there were sufficient trials without obvious clinical or statistical heterogeneity available. Results Totally 28 RCTs involving3413 women were included in the review. The majority of the trials had unclear or high risk of bias. Our study found that the rate of HDN and the incidence of neonatal jaundice might be 70% lower in the herbal medicine group compared with the usual care group (RR from 0.25 to 0.30).After treatment with herbal medicine, women were twice as likely to have antibody titers lower than 1:64 compared with women who received usual care(RR from 2.15 to 3.14) and the umbilical cord blood bilirubin level in the herbal medicine group was 4umol/L lower than in those receiving usual care. There was no difference in Apgar scores or birthweights between the two groups. Conclusions This review found very low-quality evidence that CHM prevented HDN caused by maternal-fetal ABO incompatibility. No firm conclusions can be drawn regarding the effectiveness or safety of CHM for this condition.