Search

Objective. To evaluate the evidence on the immunomodulatory effect of acupoint application for childhood asthma. Methods. Five electronic databases through October 2014 were searched. The risk of bias in eligible studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. Standardised mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of random-effects model were calculated. And heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q statistic and quantified with the I (2) index. Results. Six studies were included in our review. The aggregated results suggested that acupoint application showed the beneficial effect for childhood asthma in improving IgA (SMD, -0.83; 95% CI -1.14 to -0.52; P < 0.00001), IgE (SMD, -0.52; 95% CI -0.76 to -0.29; P < 0.001), IgG (SMD, -1.17; 95% CI -1.61 to -0.74; P < 0.0001), IL-4 (SMD, -0.57; 95% CI -0.91 to -0.23; P = 0.0009), and IFN-γ (SMD, -0.38; 95% CI -0.71 to -0.04; P = 0.03) but not IgM (SMD, -0.40; 95% CI -0.98 to 0.18; P = 0.18). And the effective dose of acupoint application may be 2-6 hours/time and a total of 3 times within 4 weeks. Conclusions. This review showed the positive evidence that acupoint application had the favorable immunomodulatory effect for childhood asthma. However, more studies with long follow-up are warrant to confirm the current findings.

Low back pain due to lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is very common in clinic. This randomized controlled trial was designed to investigate the effects of integrative TCM conservative therapy for low back pain due to LDH. A total of 408 patients with low back pain due to LDH were randomly assigned to an experimental group with integrative TCM therapy and a control group with normal conservative treatment by the ratio of 3 : 1. The primary outcome was the pain by the visual analogue scale (VAS). The secondary outcome was the low back functional activities by Chinese Short Form Oswestry Disability Index (C-SFODI). Immediately after treatment, patients in the experimental group experienced significant improvements in VAS and C-SFODI compared with the control group (between-group difference in mean change from baseline, -16.62 points, P < 0.001 in VAS; -15.55 points, P < 0.001 in C-SFODI). The difference remained at one-month followup, but it is only significant in C-SFODI at six-month followup (-7.68 points, P < 0.001). No serious adverse events were observed. These findings suggest that integrative TCM therapy may be a beneficial complementary and alternative therapy for patients with low back pain due to LDH.

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of massage therapy (MT) for neck and shoulder pain. Methods. Seven English and Chinese databases were searched until December 2011 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of MT for neck and shoulder pain. The methodological quality of RCTs was assessed based on PEDro scale. The meta-analyses of MT for neck and shoulder pain were performed. Results. Twelve high-quality studies were included. In immediate effects, the meta-analyses showed significant effects of MT for neck pain (standardised mean difference, SMD, 1.79; 95% confidence intervals, CI, 1.01 to 2.57; P < 0.00001) and shoulder pain (SMD, 1.50; 95% CI, 0.55 to 2.45; P = 0.002) versus inactive therapies. And MT showed short-term effects for shoulder pain (SMD, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.53 to 2.49; P = 0.003). But MT did not show better effects for neck pain (SMD, 0.13; 95% CI, -0.38 to 0.63; P = 0.63) or shoulder pain (SMD, 0.88; 95% CI, -0.74 to 2.51; P = 0.29) than active therapies. In addition, functional status of the shoulder was not significantly affected by MT. Conclusion. MT may provide immediate effects for neck and shoulder pain. However, MT does not show better effects on pain than other active therapies. No evidence suggests that MT is effective in functional status.

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of Tuina-focused integrative Chinese medical therapies (TICMT) on inpatients with low back pain (LBP). Methods. 6 English and Chinese databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of TICMT for in-patients with LBP. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was assessed based on PEDro scale. And the meta-analyses of TICMT for LBP on pain and functional status were conducted. Results. 20 RCTs were included. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was poor. The meta-analyses' results showed that TICMT had statistically significant effects on pain and functional status, especially Tuina plus Chinese herbal medicine (standardised mean difference, SMD: 1.17; 95% CI 0.75 to 1.60 on pain; SMD: 1.31; 95% CI 0.49 to 2.14 on functional status) and Tuina plus acupuncture (SMD: 0.94; 95% CI 0.38 to 1.50 on pain; SMD: 0.53; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.85 on functional status). But Tuina plus moxibustion or hot pack did not show significant improvements on pain. And the long-term evidence of TICMT was far from sufficient. Conclusions. The preliminary evidence from current studies suggests that TICMT might be effective complementary and alternative treatments for in-patients with LBP. However, the poor methodological quality of the included RCTs means that high-quality RCTs with long follow-up are warranted.

Non-specific low back pain (NLBP) is an increasing health problem for athletes. This randomized controlled trial was designed to investigate the effects of Chinese massage combined with herbal ointment for NLBP. 110 athletes with NLBP were randomly assigned to experimental group with Chinese massage combined with herbal ointment or control group with simple massage therapy. The primary outcome was pain by Chinese Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (C-SFMPQ). The secondary outcome was local muscle stiffness by Myotonometer. After 4 weeks, the experimental group experienced significant improvements in C-SFMPQ and in local muscle stiffness compared with control group (between-group difference in mean change from baseline, -1.24 points, P = 0.005 in sensory scores; -3.14 points, P < 0.001 in affective scores; -4.39 points, P < 0.001 in total scores; -0.64 points, P = 0.002 in VAS; -1.04 points, P = 0.005 in local muscle stiffness during relaxation state). The difference remained at one month followup, but it was only significant in affective scores (-2.83 points, P < 0.001) at three months followup. No adverse events were observed. These findings suggest that Chinese massage combined with herbal ointment may be a beneficial complementary and alternative therapy for athletes with NLBP.