| | First author (year) (ref.), Country | Sample size condition/disease duration | Intervention (regimen) | Control (regimen) | Total session | Pain related main outcome | Main results | Measurement time | Risk of bias |
| | Huang (2006) [7], China | 60/cancer pain/5–17 months | (A) Dry-cupping (maintain: 5 min, repeat + maintain: 10–15 min, once a day for 3 days, n = 30), plus none | (B) Opioid (Propoxyphene Napsylate and Paracetamol, two tablets, three times daily for 3 days, n = 30) | 3 | (1) Response rate (% reduction of pain ≥ 70%) (2) Pain free duration (h), |
(1) A (28/30, 67%); B (13/30, 43%),P = .001 (2) A (mean 5.06, range 3–8); B (mean 3.65, range 2–6), P < .05 | Baseline: before intervention Post: after final intervention | (Y,U,U,U,U) | | Hong (2006) [8], China | 70/non-specific low back pain/1 week to 3.1 years | (A) Dry cupping (moving cupping, 5 min, 1/2 days for 11 days, n = 37), plus none | (B) NSAIDs (Dexibuprofen, 0.15 g, three times daily for 12 days, n = 33) | 6 | (1) Pain on VAS (100 mm) (2) Response rate (% change of VAS ≥ 80%) |
(1) Mean difference 22.8 (95% CI, 11.4–34.2), P < .0001 in favor of (A) (2) A (21/37, 57%); B (9/33, 27%),P = .03 | Baseline: before intervention Post: after final intervention | (Y,Y,U,U,U,U) | | Zhang (1997) [9], China | 45/acute trigeminal neuralgia/6 days to 4 years | (A) Wet-cupping (15 min, once a day for 6 days and then once every other day for three sessions, n = 30), plus none | (B) Analgesics (AP-237 50 mg (IM, only first day) and then 60 mg (oral, three times daily for 12 days), n = 15) | 9 | Response rate | A (28/30, 93%); B(7/15, 47%), P = .002 | Baseline: before intervention Post: after final intervention | (Y,U,U,U,U,U) | | Farhadi (2009) [10], Iran | 98/non-specific low back pain/≥4 weeks |
(A) Wet-cupping (20 min, three stage, 3 days intervals, n = 48), plus (B) | (B) Usual care (n = 50) | 3 | PPI of the MPQ (6-point Likert scale) | Mean difference 2.2 points (95% CI, 1.7–2.6), P < .01 in favor of (A) | Baseline: before start trial Post: 3 months after final intervention | (Y,Y,Y,U,U,Y) | | Lüdtke (2006) [11], Germany | 20/BPN/n.r. | (A) Wet-cupping (10 min, once, n = 10), plus (B) |
(B) Usual care (analgesics, physiotherapies, psychological care, musicotherapy, n = 10) | 1 | Pain in Brachialgia Score (NAS, 10-point Likert scale) | Mean difference 1.6 (95% CI, 0.13–3.07), P = .03 in favor of (A) | Baseline: mean 7 days pre-treatment score (days 1–7) Post: mean 7 daily post-treatment score (days 9–15) | (A,A,A,U,U,A) | | Michalsen (2007) [12]a, Germany | 52/BPN/n.r. | (A) Wet-cupping (10 min, once, n = 26), plus (B) | (B) Heat pad (n = 26) | 1 | (1) Pain in Brachialgia Score (100 mm VAS) (2) Neck pain (100 mm VAS) | (1) Mean difference 22.9 (95% CI, 10.5–35.3), P < .001 in favor of (A) (2) Mean difference 12.6 (95% CI, 6.4–18.8), P < .001 | Baseline: pre-treatment Post: 7 day after treatment | (Y,Y,U,U,Y,Y) | | Xu (2004) [13], China | 80/Herpes zoster/1–3 days | (A) Wet-cupping (15 min, once a day for 7 days, n = 40), plus (B) | (B) Anti viral (Aciclovir 0.5 g + 5% DW 250 ml (IV), plus Aciclovir cream (external use), two times daily for 7 days, n = 40) | 7 | Response rate (% degree of pain ≥ 60%) | 40/40, 100%); B (35/40, 88%), P = .065 | Baseline: before intervention Post: after final intervention | (Y,U,U,U,U,U) |
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