The review provides generalized data on the verification of the effectiveness of the method of alternative bioenergetic medicine Reiki of non-traditional bioenergy medicine Reiki with the tools of modern evidence-based medicine over the past two decades. The general principles of the therapy, the history of the method emergence and its spread in Japan, the USA and European countries are described. The purpose of the study. The study was conducted in order to determine the possibility of using the Reiki method in physical therapy and rehabilitation of patients. The most large-scale studies of Reiki effectiveness in pain overcoming, restoring the anatomical integrity of tissues and organs, functional range of motion and sensitivity recovery have been identified. It was noted that in small studies of Reiki effectiveness for overcoming anxiety, pain, depression, in the complex rehabilitation of victims of violence, some positive effects of the method were found, which are almost never taken into account by the authors of systematic and meta-analyzes due to the incomprehensible design of primary studies, low level of evidence, small groups of examined patients. There was no evidence of the effectiveness of the Reiki method in physical therapy and rehabilitation in contact, non-contact and remote execution. Even the existence of a "biofield", the correction of which is carried out by Reiki masters, is considered by most medical scientists to be fiction. However, individual facts about the improvement of the psychological state of patients, changes in biochemical parameters, as well as interest in the method by researchers from different countries over the past decades, are the basis for continuing research on the effectiveness of the method. Conclusion. The subjective satisfaction of some of the patients for whom the Reiki method was applied in rehabilitation and physical therapy exceeds the clinical effects verified by the methods of a double placebo-controlled randomized trial. Therefore, the Reiki method cannot be recommended as the only therapeutic method, but can be included in the complex of physical therapy methods as an additional method and provided that its action is understood as a placebo. Further studies of the method can be considered appropriate due to the good acceptance by many patients in the described studies, which were analyzed in the review, the interest of researchers from different countries and the absence of harm to patients
Keywords: Reiki, physical therapy, rehabilitation, evidence-based medicine, systematic and meta-analyzes, placebo effect
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