ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of electrothermal acupuncture plus joint mobilization in treating knee osteoarthritis.Methods One hundred patients with knee osteoarthritis were randomized to treatment and control groups, 50 cases each. The control group received Maitland's technique and the treatment group, electrothermal acupuncture in addition. The Osteoarthritis Index score was recorded and cytokines (IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α) contents were measured in the two groups before and after four weeks of treatment. The clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.Results The total efficacy rate was 91.5％ in the treatment group and 80.0％ in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the WOMAC score and cytokines in the two groups (P<0.01,P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the WOMAC score and cytokines between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05).Conclusion Electrothermal acupuncture plus joint mobilization is an effective way to treat knee osteoarthritis.
ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical efficacies of ultramicro needle knife plus Maitland technique in treating knee osteoarthritis.MethodEighty patients were randomly allocated to observation and control groups, 40 cases each. The observation group received ultramicro needle knifeplus Maitland technique and the control group, Maitland technique alone. The subjects’ symptoms were scored using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Lysholm Knee Score Scale (LKSS) before and after four and six weeks of treatment. The clinical therapeutic effects were evaluated in the two groups.ResultAfter four weeks of treatment, the total efficacy rate was 91.9% in the observation group (37patients) and 76.3% in the control group (38 patients); there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the VAS score and the LKSS score between after six and four weeks oftreatment in the control group (P<0.05). No adverse reactions occurred during the whole treatment course.ConclusionUltramicro needle knife plus Maitland technique is significantly superior to Maitland technique alone and can markedly relieve the pain and dysfunction in patients with knee osteoarthritis. It is characterized by short time to produce an effect, a lasting therapeutic effect and high safety.