Acupuncture combined with medication has a better effects in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis in the early stage than that of the simple medication. - GreenMedInfo Summary
[Randomized controlled clinical trial of acupuncture treatment for knee osteoarthritis in the early stage].
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2019 Mar 25 ;44(3):211-5. PMID: 30945505
Xi Luo
OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of acupuncture in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in the early stage.
METHODS: A total of 60 KOA patients were randomized into medication group and acupuncture combined with medication (acupuncture) group (= 30 in each group). Patients of the medication group were treated by external application of Diclofenac Diethylamine Emulgel around the affected joint, 3 times a day for 2 successive weeks and reasonable exercising training. Patients of the acupuncture group received routine medication and reasonable exercising training and acupuncture of-points, Zusanli (ST36), Yanglingquan (GB34), Yinlingquan (SP9), Neixiyan (EX-LE4) and Dubi (ST35) at affected side with filiform needles which were manipulated with uniform reinforcing-reducing method for a while, followed by retaining the needles for 30 min. The treatment was conducted once every other day for 2 weeks. The pain degree was assessed by using visual analog scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scale (0-240 points) was used to evaluate the severity of KOA, and the"Diagnosis of Syndromes of Traditional Chinese Medicine"was used to assess the therapeutic effect after the treatment.
RESULTS: After the treatment, the VAS and WOMAC scores of both medication and acupuncture groups were significantly and respectively decreased in comparison with their own pre-treatment (<0.05), and the scores of the two indexes of the acupuncture group were evidently lower than those of the medication group (<0.05). Of the two 30 cases in the medication and acupuncture groups, 5 (16.67%) and 6 (20.00%) were cured, 17 (56.67%) and 19 (63.33%) experienced marked improvement, 6 (20.00%) and 4 (13.33%) were effective, 2 (6.67%) and 1 (3.33%) were ineffective, with the effective rate of cure plus marked effectiveness being 73.33% and 83.33%, respectively. No significant difference was found between the two groups in the therapeutic effect (>0.05).
CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with medication has a better therapeutic effect in the treatment of KOA in the early stage than that of the simple medication.