A Clinical Randomized Controlled Trial On Acupuncture With Muscle Meridan Focus For The Treatment Of Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective:To abserve the therapeutic effect of acupuncture with Muscle Meridan Focus for treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis with comparison of tradtional acupoints.Methods:Sixty patients with Knee Osteoarthritis meeting the research requirement were randomly assigned into two groups, i.e. the treatment group (30patients treated by acupuncture with Muscle Meridan Focus) and the control group (another30patients treated by acupuncture with tradtional acupoints). Patients in both groups rested with the needles for30minutes once daily for four courses of treatment with five times of acupuncture as one course of treatment. The interval of two days is needed after each course of treatment. A follow up study was made one month after all the courses of treatment. The clinical efficacy was assessed by WOMAC, VAS and SF-36scoring before the treatment,after the treatment and during the follow up study.Results:1. In terms of baseline characteristics,there were no significant difference in gender, age, course, and every scale between two groups(P>0.05).2.Comparison between the two groups in terms of overall clinical efficacy:(1)After the treatment, the total effective rates of the treatment group and the control group were96.67%and90.00%respectively. The difference showed statistic significance(P<0.05).(2)During the follow up study, the total effective rates of the treatment group and the control group were96.55%and86.21%respectively. The difference showed statistic significance(P<0.05).3.The Comparison of scale within each group before and after the treatment showed statistic significance(P<0.05).4.The Comparison of every scale between two groups after the treatment showed statistic significance(P<0.05).5.The comparison within each group during follow up study:Every scoring had great statistic significance in the treatment group (P<0.05) while every scale were of no statistic significance in the control group during follow up study and after the treatment(P<0.05).6.The comparison between two groups during follow up study:every scale showed statistic significance(P<0.05).Conclusion:1.Two kinds of acupuncture treatment of KOA are effective in terms of clinical therapeutic effect,but the total effect of the treatment group is better than that of the control group.2.The short-term clinical effect of the treatment group is better than that of the control group particularly with regard to alleviating pain, relieving stiffness, reducing difficulty in activity of daily living and improving the quality of life of patients with KOA.