Abstract
BackgroundGuasha is a therapeutic method for pain management using tools to scrape or rub the surface of the body to relieve blood stagnation. This study aims to systematically review the controlled clinical trials on the effectiveness of using Guasha to treat musculoskeletal pain.MethodsWe searched 11 databases (without language restrictions): MEDLINE, Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Korean Studies Information (KSI), DBPIA, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), KoreaMed, Research Information Service System (RISS), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and the Cochrane Library. The search strategy was Guasha (OR scraping) AND pain. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane criteria (i.e. sequence generation, blinding, incomplete outcome measures and allocation concealment).ResultsFive randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and two controlled clinical trials (CCTs) were included in the present study. Two RCTs compared Guasha with acupuncture in terms of effectiveness, while the other trials compared Guasha with no treatment (1 trial), acupuncture (4 trials), herbal injection (1 trial) and massage or electric current therapy (1 trial). While two RCTs suggested favorable effects of Guasha on pain reduction and response rate, the quality of these RCTs was poor. One CCT reported beneficial effects of Guasha on musculoskeletal pain but had low methodological quality.ConclusionCurrent evidence is insufficient to show that Guasha is effective in pain management. Further RCTs are warranted and methodological quality should be improved.
Highlights
Guasha is a therapeutic method for pain management using tools to scrape or rub the surface of the body to relieve blood stagnation
All included studies were conducted in China, including treatment for fibromyalgia (1 trial) [5], neck stiffness (1 trial) [6], cervical spondylosis (3 trials) [7,8,10], scapulohumeral periarthritis (1 trial) [9] and lumbar disc herniation (1 trial) [11]
The last randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing Guasha with acupuncture in patients with scapulohumeral periarthritis reported that Guasha was superior in recovery rate [9]
Summary
Guasha is a therapeutic method for pain management using tools to scrape or rub the surface of the body to relieve blood stagnation. This study aims to systematically review the controlled clinical trials on the effectiveness of using Guasha to treat musculoskeletal pain. Guasha was defined as a therapeutic modality that uses several tools to scrape or rub the surface of the body to relieve blood (Xue) stagnation. Tools for Guasha including a Chinese soup spoon, an edge-worn coin, a slice of water-buffalo horn, a cow rib, honed jade and a simple metal cap with a smooth round lip with oil or water are used in Guasha to scrape or rub the skin to relieve blood stagnation at the body surface [1]. The present systematic review aims to critically evaluate the results of controlled clinical trials on the effectiveness of using Guasha to treat MS pain
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
