Abstract
Cupping is often used for stroke rehabilitation in Asian countries. Currently, no
systematic review of this topic is available. The aim of this systematic review is
to summarize and critically evaluate the evidence for and against the effectiveness
of cupping for stroke rehabilitation. Thirteen databases were searched from their
inception through March of 2010 without language restrictions. Prospective clinical
trials were included if cupping was tested as the sole treatment or as an adjunct
to other conventional treatments for stroke rehabilitation. We found 43 potentially
relevant articles, of which 5 studies including 3 randomized clinical trials (RCTs)
and 2 uncontrolled observational studies (UOSs) met our inclusion criteria. Cupping
was compared with acupuncture, electro-acupuncture and warm needling. Some superior
effects of cupping were found in two of the RCTs when compared to acupuncture in hemiplegic
shoulder pain and high upper-limb myodynamia after stroke. The other RCT failed to
show favorable effects of cupping when compared to acupuncture and warm needling in
patients with hemiplegic hand edema. The two UOSs reported favorable effects of cupping
on aphasia and intractable hiccup after stroke. There are not enough trials to provide
evidence for the effectiveness of cupping for stroke rehabilitation because most of
the included trials compared the effects with unproven evidence and were not informative.
Future RCTs seem warranted but must overcome the methodological shortcomings of the
existing evidence.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 03, 2010
Accepted:
March 24,
2010
Received in revised form:
March 21,
2010
Received:
December 26,
2009
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
