Warm Cupping of the Posterior Thorax in Combination With Standard Conventional Therapy for Ards in Covid-19 Patients in Icu: A Case Series Publisher Pubmed



Karimi M¹ ; Kazemi AH^{1, 2} ; Asadi A³ ; Zarei A¹ ; Zargaran A⁴ ; Moravej SAAH⁵ ; Jazayeri SF⁵ ; Nabavian O⁶ ; Ahmadi SA⁶ ; Alipour R¹ Show Affiliations
Source: JAMS Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies Published:2022

Abstract

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is commonly found in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As a non-pharmacological treatment of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), cupping has been clinically used for respiratory symptoms. We sequentially identified a series of patients with COVID-19 with ARDS who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Warm cupping of the posterior thorax was performed for seven days. We collected longitudinal severity scores on cough, breathlessness, chest tightness, type of oxygen therapy, and oxygen saturation (SpO2). We hereby report the changes in the severity scores in a series of eight patients who received 21 sessions of cupping in addition to conventional treatments. All patients reported improvement in symptom scores that was matched by an increase in SpO2 by as much as 3.16%. All patients were discharged and did not require the use of a mechanical ventilator. The results suggest that combining cupping with conventional treatment may provide a good prognosis for patients with COVID-19 with ARDS. © Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute (MAPI)