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Introduction: This study aims to summarize the available evidence and guideline/consensus recommendations for acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment, prevention and rehabilitation of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Methods: A scoping review was performed. Eight electronic databases and other related websites were searched. All studies related to acupuncture and moxibustion for COVID-19 were considered. Descriptive analysis was applied to analyze the all included studies and guideline recommendations.
Results: We ultimately included 131 eligible studies. The main topics of the included studies were the treatment (82.4%) and prevention (38.9%) of COVID-19. The most included studies were literature reviews (65, 49.6%), protocols of systematic reviews (20, 15.3%), and guidelines/guidance and consensuses (18, 13.7%). The 18 (13.7%) COVID-19 guidelines and consensuses included 47 recommendations on acupuncture and moxibustion, which focused on the treatment (21/47, 44.7%), rehabilitation (17/47, 36.2%) and prevention (6, 12.8%) of COVID-19 patients. Zusanli (ST36), Feishu (BL13), Guanyuan (RN4) were recommended mostly for the treatment, rehabilitation and prevention respectively.
Conclusion: Acupuncture and moxibustion are effective in the treatment of COVID-19 patients to some extent.
Reference: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35967901/