RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE@#To compare the therapeutic effect between thunder-fire moxibustion combined with external applicaion of powder and thunder-fire moxibustion alone for mild and moderate knee osteoarthritis.@*METHODS@#A total of 70 patients with mild and moderate knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 35 cases in each group. In the observation group, thunder-fire moxibustion combined with external applicaion of powder were applied, Thunder-fire moxibustion was applied at Xuehai (SP 10), Liangqiu (ST 34), Neixiyan (EX-LE 4), Yanglingquan (GB 34) and point, external applicaion of powder was given to the affected knee after the treatment of thunder-fire moxibustion. Simple thunder-fire moxibustion was given in the control group. All patients in the two groups were treated once a day, 7 days as one course and the consecutive 4 courses were required, with an interval of 1 day between courses. Before and after treatment, the visual analogue scale (VAS) score and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score were used to assessed knee pain, stiffness and physical function in the two groups. In addition, the efficacy was evaluated.@*RESULTS@#Compared before treatment, the VAS scores, total scores of WOMAC, pain scores, stiffness scores and physical function scores were reduced after treatment in the two groups (<0.01), and the scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (<0.01, <0.05). The total effective rate was 97.0% (32/33) in the observation group, which was superior to 91.2% (31/34) in the control group (<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Thunder-fire moxibustion combined with external applicaion of powder are superior to simple thunder-fire moxibustion in improving the symptoms and delaying the development of the disease for mild and moderate knee osteoarthritis.