Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40604805›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2025

What are the effects of dry cupping therapy combined with the McKenzie method on clinical outcomes in chronic low back pain? A protocol for a randomized, sham-controlled trial.

Kimberly Moreira Pereira da Silva, Hugo Jario Almeida Silva, André Pontes-Silva, Josimari Melo DeSantana, Mariana Arias Avila, Germanna Medeiros Barbosa, Marcelo Cardoso de Souza

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial Protocol
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05459376 (Effect of Dry Cupping Therapy Associated With the McKenzie Method in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05459376 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Effect of Dry Cupping Therapy Associated With the McKenzie Method in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: Protocol for a Sham-controlled Randomized Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do NorteRan2026 to 2028Enrolled80ConditionsLow Back PainArmsExercises and dry cupping
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Kimberly Moreira Pereira da SilvaFaculty of Health Sciences of Trairi, Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Cruz, RN, Brazil.
Hugo Jario Almeida SilvaPostgraduate Program in Physical Therapy, Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
André Pontes-SilvaPostgraduate Program in Physical Therapy, Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Josimari Melo DeSantanaLaboratory of Research on Neuroscience (LAPENE), Physical Therapy Department, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, SE, Brazil.
Mariana Arias AvilaPostgraduate Program in Physical Therapy, Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Germanna Medeiros BarbosaFaculty of Health Sciences of Trairi, Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Cruz, RN, Brazil.
Marcelo Cardoso de SouzaDepartamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 3000, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, PO Box 1524, Natal, RN, 59072-970, Brazil. marcelo.cardoso@ufrn.br.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough exercise is a first-line approach to treating chronic low back pain (CLBP) in clinical practice, passive techniques such as dry cupping therapy are considered complementary to this condition. However, knowledge about the effects of combining dry cupping therapy with active exercises in people with non-specific CLBP is shallow.

objectiveTo evaluate the effects of dry cupping therapy with the McKenzie method (MDT) on disability and functional outcomes in people with non-specific CLBP.

methodsEighty-eight people with non-specific CLBP aging 18 to 59 years will be recruited and evaluated for inclusion and exclusion criteria. Participants will be randomized into intervention (MDT and dry cupping therapy) or sham group (MDT and sham dry cupping therapy). Dry cupping therapy will be applied bilaterally to the vertebrae (L1 to L5). Interventions will be performed twice a week for eight weeks, and participants will be assessed before treatment (T0), immediately after the first intervention (T1), and at four (T4) and eight weeks of intervention (T8). Primary outcomes will be disability (Oswestry Disability Index). Secondary outcomes will be functionality (Timed Up and Go Test), pain (Numeric Pain Rating Scale), trunk range of motion (Toe-touch Test) and participant expectation and perception (Global Perceived Effect Scale). DISCUSSION: Despite recent research, there is no consensus in the literature regarding the effectiveness of dry cupping therapy in the treatment of people with non-specific CLBP. Also, no study with high methodological rigor has evaluated the combination of dry cupping therapy with active exercise in this population and whether this combination potentiates any clinical effect. Thus, this protocol may guide further research to support the prescription of exercise combined with dry cupping therapy in people with non-specific CLBP. The results of the study will be disseminated to participants through social networks and will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and scientific meetings. TRIAL REGISTRATIONS: ClinicalTrials.gov, October, 2023 (report number: NCT05459376).

Indexed as

Chronic PainCupping TherapyExercise TherapyLow Back PainAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeYoung AdultChronic painComplementary therapiesExercise therapy

Identifiers

PMID40604805
PMCPMC12220493

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.