Effect of electro-acupuncture on pain relief and joint function in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A meta-analysis

Ri-Lan CHEN

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

Numerous clinical data have shown that electro-acupuncture in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis has the advantages of fast onset, good therapeutic effect and less side effects, but there is a lack of multicenter large-sample clinical research regarding the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE:

To systematically evaluate the effect of electro-acupuncture on pain relief and joint function in patients with knee osteoarthritis by meta-analysis.

METHODS:

The literatures related to clinical randomized controlled trials of electro-acupuncture treatment of knee osteoarthritis were retrieved in CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, PubMed, Embase and Cochrance Library database from the inception to June 2019. After literature screening, a meta-analysis of included studies was carried out using Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS AND

CONCLUSION:

Finally, 11 articles were included in the study, with 721 cases of knee osteoarthritis. There were 366 cases in the electro-acupuncture group and 361 in the control group with routine acupuncture or drug treatment. Compared with the control group, the total effective rate, cure rate, visual analogue scale score, WOMAC score and ISOA score in the electro-acupuncture group were significantly higher than those in the control group [odds ratio (OR)=3.22, 95% confidence interval (CI)(2.13, 4.87), Z=5.53, P < 0.000 01; OR=2.73, 95%CI(1.80, 4.15), Z=4.72, P < 0.000 01; mean difference (MD)=-1.00, 95%CI(-1.71, -0.30), Z=2.80, P=0.005; MD=-7.69, 95%CI(-10.31, -5.07), Z=5.75, P < 0.000 01; MD=-2.22, 95%CI(-3.74, -0.70), Z=2.86, P=0.004]. Based on the evidence of meta-analysis, the short-term effect of electro-acupuncture on knee osteoarthritis is definite, and electro-acupuncture can play a positive effect on pain symptoms and joint function of knee osteoarthritis patients with few adverse reactions. Considering small sample size, low-quality literatures and possible presence of bias factors, further investigations on more high-quality randomized controlled trials are warranted.