The effect of hot intermittent cupping on pain, stiffness and disability of patients with knee osteoarthritis

摘要

Highlights This study shows that cupping therapy is effective in improving disability, stiffness and pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Editor’s Summary Taking into account the side effects and complications resulted from many anti-inflammatory chemical drugs, cupping therapy is prone to become an effective and safe way for patients with knee osteoarthritis. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hot intermittent cupping on pain, stiffness and inability of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KO). Methods The present study was a clinical trial, which was performed on 38 patients with KO referring to Gonabad Rheumatology Specialty Clinic. Based on permutation block method, the research units were divided into cupping therapy and control groups. For the cupping therapy group, four sessions of cupping therapy were performed every four days. To collect data, the form of demographic information, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster (WOMAC) osteoarthritis scale were used, and the data were analyzed by SPSS software v. 16 using descriptive statistics and independent t-test, paired t-test, Chi-square test and Fishers exact test with a significance level of P Results Findings showed that there was no significant difference between the cupping therapy and control groups in terms of demographic characteristics and they were homogeneous. Findings indicated that, based on VAS, the mean pain intensity in the left (P P P = 0.006), pain intensity (P P Conclusion Findings showed that hot intermittent cupping therapy reduced the pain intensity, stiffness and disability in patients with KO.