Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial - PubMed (original) (raw)
Clinical Trial
Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial
Brian M Berman et al. Ann Intern Med. 2004.
Abstract
Background: Evidence on the efficacy of acupuncture for reducing the pain and dysfunction of osteoarthritis is equivocal.
Objective: To determine whether acupuncture provides greater pain relief and improved function compared with sham acupuncture or education in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
Design: Randomized, controlled trial.
Setting: Two outpatient clinics (an integrative medicine facility and a rheumatology facility) located in academic teaching hospitals and 1 clinical trials facility.
Patients: 570 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee (mean age [+/-SD], 65.5 +/- 8.4 years).
Intervention: 23 true acupuncture sessions over 26 weeks. Controls received 6 two-hour sessions over 12 weeks or 23 sham acupuncture sessions over 26 weeks.
Measurements: Primary outcomes were changes in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain and function scores at 8 and 26 weeks. Secondary outcomes were patient global assessment, 6-minute walk distance, and physical health scores of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).
Results: Participants in the true acupuncture group experienced greater improvement in WOMAC function scores than the sham acupuncture group at 8 weeks (mean difference, -2.9 [95% CI, -5.0 to -0.8]; P = 0.01) but not in WOMAC pain score (mean difference, -0.5 [CI, -1.2 to 0.2]; P = 0.18) or the patient global assessment (mean difference, 0.16 [CI, -0.02 to 0.34]; P > 0.2). At 26 weeks, the true acupuncture group experienced significantly greater improvement than the sham group in the WOMAC function score (mean difference, -2.5 [CI, -4.7 to -0.4]; P = 0.01), WOMAC pain score (mean difference, -0.87 [CI, -1.58 to -0.16];P = 0.003), and patient global assessment (mean difference, 0.26 [CI, 0.07 to 0.45]; P = 0.02).
Limitations: At 26 weeks, 43% of the participants in the education group and 25% in each of the true and sham acupuncture groups were not available for analysis.
Conclusions: Acupuncture seems to provide improvement in function and pain relief as an adjunctive therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee when compared with credible sham acupuncture and education control groups.
Republished from
- Acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis--a randomised trial using a novel sham.
Manheimer E, Lim B, Lao L, Berman B. Manheimer E, et al. Acupunct Med. 2006 Dec;24 Suppl:S7-14. doi: 10.1136/aim.24.suppl.7. Acupunct Med. 2006. PMID: 17308513
Comment in
- Acupuncture effective for osteoarthritis of the knee.
[No authors listed] [No authors listed] J Fam Pract. 2005 Mar;54(3):200. J Fam Pract. 2005. PMID: 15755369 No abstract available. - Acupuncture and knee osteoarthritis.
Baker RH. Baker RH. Ann Intern Med. 2005 May 17;142(10):871; author reply 872-3. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-142-10-200505170-00018. Ann Intern Med. 2005. PMID: 15897541 No abstract available. - Acupuncture and knee osteoarthritis.
Cherkin DC, Sherman KJ. Cherkin DC, et al. Ann Intern Med. 2005 May 17;142(10):872; author reply 872-3. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-142-10-200505170-00019. Ann Intern Med. 2005. PMID: 15897543 No abstract available.
Summary for patients in
- Summaries for patients. Acupuncture for treating knee osteoarthritis.
[No authors listed] [No authors listed] Ann Intern Med. 2004 Dec 21;141(12):I20. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-141-12-200412210-00001. Ann Intern Med. 2004. PMID: 15611482 No abstract available.
Similar articles
- Acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis--a randomised trial using a novel sham.
Manheimer E, Lim B, Lao L, Berman B. Manheimer E, et al. Acupunct Med. 2006 Dec;24 Suppl:S7-14. doi: 10.1136/aim.24.suppl.7. Acupunct Med. 2006. PMID: 17308513 - Acupuncture and knee osteoarthritis: a three-armed randomized trial.
Scharf HP, Mansmann U, Streitberger K, Witte S, Krämer J, Maier C, Trampisch HJ, Victor N. Scharf HP, et al. Ann Intern Med. 2006 Jul 4;145(1):12-20. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-145-1-200607040-00005. Ann Intern Med. 2006. PMID: 16818924 Clinical Trial. - Effectiveness and feasibility of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: a pilot randomized controlled trial.
Lin LL, Li YT, Tu JF, Yang JW, Sun N, Zhang S, Wang TQ, Shi GX, Du Y, Zhao JJ, Xiong DC, Hou HK, Liu CZ. Lin LL, et al. Clin Rehabil. 2018 Dec;32(12):1666-1675. doi: 10.1177/0269215518790632. Epub 2018 Jul 23. Clin Rehabil. 2018. PMID: 30037276 Clinical Trial. - Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Dai WL, Zhou AG, Zhang H, Zhang J. Dai WL, et al. Arthroscopy. 2017 Mar;33(3):659-670.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.arthro.2016.09.024. Epub 2016 Dec 22. Arthroscopy. 2017. PMID: 28012636 Review. - Durable Effects of Acupuncture for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Chen H, Shi H, Gao S, Fang J, Yi J, Wu W, Liu X, Liu Z. Chen H, et al. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2024 Jul;28(7):709-722. doi: 10.1007/s11916-024-01242-6. Epub 2024 Apr 18. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2024. PMID: 38635021 Free PMC article.
Cited by
- Placebo acupuncture devices: considerations for acupuncture research.
Zhu D, Gao Y, Chang J, Kong J. Zhu D, et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:628907. doi: 10.1155/2013/628907. Epub 2013 Jun 6. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013. PMID: 23840261 Free PMC article. - A comparison of Kneipp hydrotherapy with conventional physiotherapy in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the hip or knee: protocol of a prospective randomised controlled clinical trial.
Schencking M, Otto A, Deutsch T, Sandholzer H. Schencking M, et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2009 Aug 19;10:104. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-10-104. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2009. PMID: 19689824 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial. - Efficacy of electro-acupuncture and manual acupuncture versus sham acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
Tu JF, Yang JW, Lin LL, Wang TQ, Du YZ, Liu ZS, Hu H, Zhao JJ, Yu XG, Jia CS, Wang J, Wang T, Hou YQ, Zou X, Wang Y, Shao JK, Wang LQ, Yu ZS, Liu CZ. Tu JF, et al. Trials. 2019 Jan 25;20(1):79. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-3138-x. Trials. 2019. PMID: 30683147 Free PMC article. - How large are the nonspecific effects of acupuncture? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Linde K, Niemann K, Schneider A, Meissner K. Linde K, et al. BMC Med. 2010 Nov 23;8:75. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-8-75. BMC Med. 2010. PMID: 21092261 Free PMC article. - Acupuncture for Relieving Abdominal Pain and Distension in Acute Pancreatitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Zhu F, Yin S, Zhu X, Che D, Li Z, Zhong Y, Yan H, Gan D, Yang L, Wu X, Li L. Zhu F, et al. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Dec 3;12:786401. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.786401. eCollection 2021. Front Psychiatry. 2021. PMID: 34925110 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical