Cupping therapy is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine, and its efficacy has been gradually accepted and confirmed by modern clinical medicine, but its physiological mechanisms have no consensus. In the present paper, we summarized the related mechanisms from results of both domestic and international researches which include 1) blood circulation promotion theory, 2) neurological reflex theory, 3) gate theory of pain, 4) inflammation-immune reaction theory and 5) skin tension increase theory. We also reviewed progresses of clinical researches about application of cupping therapy to cardiovascular diseases, chronic musculoskeletal pain, migraine and other painful symptoms, as well as arthritis which effects involve the above mentioned blood-circulation promotion, tension-increase, gate theory and inflammation-immune reaction, respectively. We believe that the mechanisms of cupping therapy are not independent and should be explored further from different perspectives.
拔罐疗法是中医学的重要组成部分，但针对拔罐发挥疗效的具体机制并无统一认识。本文通过对国内外有关拔罐疗法的科研证据进行分类分析，总结出血液循环促进理论、神经反射理论、痛门理论、免疫炎性反应理论、张力改变理论5种主要的拔罐作用机制，对拔罐治疗各类病症的临床研究进展进行梳理，并总结不同疾病的拔罐治疗效果所依据的主要生理学机制。.
Keywords: Blood circulation promotion; Clinical application; Cupping therapy; Physiological mechanism.