A 60-Year-Old Woman Considering Acupuncture for Knee Pain

Abstract

Mrs A, an active 60-year-old woman, has a history of degenerative osteoarthritis of her knee with pain that has progressed over the past 8 years. She has undergone arthroscopic surgery for a meniscal tear and has taken nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), glucosamine, and chondroitin sulfate occasionally, but generally does not like taking medications. She is open to other therapeutic approaches and wants to know if acupuncture can help the pain, improve function, and stop her condition from progressing. The evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture for knee pain and other common treatments, including exercise, NSAIDs, glucosamine and chondroitin, and intra-articular knee injections are compared, and costs and methods of acupuncture and selecting an acupuncturist are discussed.

Shoulder Tip Pain After Laparoscopic Surgery Analgesia by Collateral Meridian Acupressure (Shiatsu) Therapy: A Report of 2 Cases

“…18 Unlike conventional acupuncture, CMAT offers advantage of being noninvasive, thereby increasing patient acceptance and eliminating needle-related complications such as pneumothorax, infection, bleeding, or tissue injuries. 17 Although the traditional acupressure therapy uses acupoints on the meridian corresponding to the affected area, 8 the CMAT makes use of several collateral meridians to facilitate the movement of energy (Qi) resulting in notable improvement in analgesia. Unlike traditional acupressure, CMAT is characterized by use of two acupoints rather than one.…”

Safety of Acupuncture: Results of a Prospective Observational Study with 229,230 Patients and Introduction of a Medical Information and Consent Form

“…It is administered on the basis of positive evidence for pain-related conditions such as osteoarthritis of the knee [4][5][6] as well as postoperative and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting [7,8]. Despite the lack of positive scientific evidence, it is also used for other conditions such as asthma [9] and smoking cessation [10].…”

Improvement of Painful Bortezomib-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Following Acupuncture Treatment in a Case Series of Multiple Myeloma Patients

“…Animal research suggests that acupuncture accomplishes its analgesic effect by stimulating nerves in the muscle, which then relay the signal to the spinal cord, midbrain, and hypothalamus-pituitary system, which then leads to the release of neurotransmitters and hormones such as endorphins and enkephalins. [19][20][21] Other mechanisms such as activation of descending pain-inhibiting pathways, deactivation of the limbic system, as well as cortical and subcortical regions, cortical cerebral vasodilation causing release of neuropeptide, and inhibition of the release of inflammatory factors have also been suggested to explain the effect of acupuncture analgesia. [22][23][24][25][26] A recent study also showed that electroacupuncture alleviates bone cancer pain by suppressing spinal expression of interleukin-1b in glial cells that are involved in the spinal transmission and processing of noxious inputs from the peripheral sites and facilitates pain.…”