ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the clinical efficacies of warm needling versus salt moxibustion in treating knee osteoarthritis. Methods One hundred and twenty patients with knee osteoarthritis were randomly allocated to groupsⅠ andⅡ, and control group, 40 cases each. GroupⅠ received salt moxibustion; groupⅡ, warm needling; the control group, routine medication. After 4 weeks of treatment, the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale scores, the VAS scores, the quality of life scores and the clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the three groups.Results There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale scores, the VAS scores and the quality of life scores in the three groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale scores and the VAS scores between groupⅠ orⅡ and the control group (P<0.05). The total efficacy rate was 90.0% in groupⅠ, 87.5% in groupⅡ and 70.0% in the control group. There was a statistically significant difference in total efficacy rate between groupⅠ orⅡ and the control group (P<0.05).Conclusions Warm needling and salt moxibustion are both effective way to treat knee osteoarthritis and have equal therapeutic effects.