Qihuang Needle Therapy For Knee Osteoarthritis

Purpose:Knee osteoarthritis(KOA)is a degenerative disease base on cartilage degradation and bone hyperplasia.Patients with knee osteoarthritis mainly suffer from swelling,pain,stiffness and limits activity of the knee.As the population ages it becomes a common problem in the world,the morbidity of KOA gradually increases,which makes KOA become the main reason of knee disability.Acupuncture is an effective treatment for knee osteoarthritis.However,traditional acupuncture filiform needle therapy isn' t as convenient as Qihuang needle.For example,if using filiform needle treatment more acupoints are selected,longer needle retention time is required and the course of treatment is longer.Qihuang needle(patent No.ZL201720134057.X)is designed by referring to the characteristics of its round needle in Huangdi Neijing.Compared with traditional acupuncture,Qihuang needle has the characteristics of less bleeding,quick pain relief,short course of treatment and high clinical efficacy.Qihuang needle can replace filiform needle due to its effectiveness.The clinical use of Qihuang needle for KOA treatment is quite effective,but there is still no clinical RCT study about this now.This study is to compare Qihuang needle with common filiform needle for KOA treatment through a clinical RCT study in order to confirm that Qihuang needle therapy is superior than to traditional acupuncture filiform needle.Method:60 patients who meet the inclusion criteria are from the clinic of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine are randomly divided into two groups.These groups are known as the treatment group(Qihuang Needle Therapy)and the control group(General Acupuncture)who has 30 patients in each group.For the treatment group we have selected a set of acupoints such as Ququan,Xieyangguan and Weizhong using Qihuang Needle.When using Qihuang needle we must use"HeGuCi" and "ShuCi " as an acupuncture method.The control group selected corresponding acupoints according to Gao Shuzhong's Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy by using the filiform needle.After the arrival of qi,the main acupoints(Xuehai-Yanglingquan,Liangqiu-Inner Knee Eye)were given electro-acupuncture apparatus.The stimulation was based on the patient' s tolerance.All of the needles was retained for 30 minutes per treatment.The two groups were treated twice a week,and two weeks for one course of treatment.All participants received a course of treatment.The McGill pain questionnaire(MPQ)and the WOMAC function evaluation of the knee joint were used as an observation indicators to evaluate the therapeutic effect,and the therapeutic effect of the experimental group and the control group was compared.Result:1.Before treatment,there was no significant difference in gender,age and course of disease between the two groups,which was comparable.2.Before treatment,there was no significant difference in MPQ total score and WOMAC function evaluation between the two groups,which was comparable.3.After a course of treatment,the MPQ scores of the two groups before and after treatment were compared.Both of the groups have significant differences in scores before and after treatment for the MPQ,which suggest that both groups could reduce the MPQ scores of KOA patients after treatment.Compared with the MPQ scores of the two groups after treatment,the MPQ scores of the experimental group were lower than those of the control group,and the scores of the two groups were significantly different.The experimental group had better effect in reducing the MPQ scores.4.Comparing the WOMAC score of the knee before and after treatment,both of the groups have significant differences in the knee' s WOMAC score between the before and after treatment.Both groups can reduce the WOMAC score of the knee of KOA patients.Comparing the two groups after treatment,the WOMAC score of the knee of the experimental group is less than that of the control group,and there is significant difference between the score of the two groups.The experimental group has better effect in reducing the WOMAC score of the knee than the score of the control group.Discussion:Both Qihuang Needle Therapy Group and General Acupuncture Group can effectively alleviate the symptoms of KOA.The treatment group who used Qihuang Needle Therapy can effectively alleviate the tension and spasm of local soft tissue,promote metabolism,and immediately relieve pain through appropriate stimulation of local tissues of human body.The curative effect of Qihuang Needle Therapy is better than that of tranditional filiform needle therapy.Qihuang needle therapy has no obvious discomfort in clinical use.It has good immediate analgesic effect so that it is suitable for clinical application.