Medical Acupuncture as a Treatment for Novel COVID-19-Related Respiratory Distress: Personal Experience from a Frontline Anesthesiologist

The role of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of patients with COVID-19: A scoping review

“…There were nine case series and seven case reports included (Supplementary 3), and their main results were concluded in Table 6 . Almost all treatment methods have shown some effectiveness, especially for the clinical symptom improvements, such as anxiety and depression, 54 , 60 , 62 etc. But limited to the type of studies, it can not provide sufficient and strong evidence to support the application of acupuncture and moxibustion in COVID-19 patients.…”

“… Zhang X (2020) 59 case series China 7 4/3 35.7, 22∼50 Chinese and western medicine (moxibustion as adjuvant therapy) Seven patients were discharged after 14 to 35 days of treatment with negative nucleic acid conversion. Wang M (2020) 60 case series China 7 4/3 39.0, 31∼52 Chinese and western medicine (moxibustion as adjuvant therapy) Three patients were cured and four patients improved, with an efficiency of 100%. Chen X (2020) 61 case series China 192 NR NR Indirect moxibustion 43 health care workers did not develop infections; 149 patients showed some improvement in symptoms and psychological status.…”

Acupuncture or cupping plus standard care versus standard care in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients: An assessor-blinded, randomized, controlled trial

“…The case series suggests that warm cupping of the posterior thorax is effective in improving respiratory symptoms and reducing mortality and intubation in COVID-19 patients with ARDS 37 . Furthermore, a case report by Cheng demonstrated amelioration of dyspnea and chest tightness in a COVID-19 patient with cupping 38 . These promising outcomes led to this randomized clinical trial, the results of which suggest that adding cupping to standard care shortens hospitalization duration and has significant preventive effects on severe COVID-19 outcomes (ICU admission and death)- according to the relative risk presented in Table 3 , acupuncture and cupping decrease risk of ICU admission by 85% and 97%, respectively, and adding acupuncture or cupping to standard care declines the risk of intubation and death by 95%.…”

Complementary and Alternative Medicine in COVID-19 Infection, an Old Weapon against a New Enemy

“…In a randomized controlled trial, cupping therapy increased the arterial O 2 saturation when applied to smokers and enhanced breathing after 12 hours of application [185]. Cupping therapy and acupuncture helped in ameliorating the clinical severity in a case of COVID pneumonia and relieved the complications of respiratory disorders [186]. In a clinical study, warm cupping of the posterior thorax was applied with conventional treatments for 7 days in 8 patients who suffered from COVID-19 with acute respiratory destress syndrome (ARDS).…”