A pilot study on using acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to treat knee osteoarthritis (OA)

Itoh, Kazunori; Hirota, Satoko; Katsumi, Yoshiki; Ochi, Hideki; Kono, Hiroshi

doi:10.1186/1749-8546-3-2

Cited by 51 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…19 In cases in which pharmacological treatment is ineffective and the criteria for surgery are not fulfilled, or when surgery is refused by the patient, alternative methods for pain relief such as Acupuncture and Homeopathy can be considered. 5 In this study, pain has improved statistically on both VAS of pain and pain subscale of the WOMAC in group I (acupuncture treated group). The number of tender points decreased significantly, and moreover, there was significant decrease in the number of patients receiving analgesics for pain control (p<0.05).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…4 The pharmacologic therapies used in treatment of OA may often cause unwanted and dangerous side effects. 5 Many studies have documented that acupuncture has a beneficial effect when treating many diseases and painful conditions, and therefore is thought to be useful as a complementary therapy or to replace generally accepted pharmacological intervention. 6 It is proposed that acupuncture produces its effects by the conduction of electromagnetic signals at a greaterthan-normal rate, thus aiding the activity of painkilling biochemicals , such as endorphins and immune system cells at specific sites in the body.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Acupuncture versus Homeopathy as A Complementary Therapy in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Mobasher

Eldin

Zohiery

et al. 2014

Egypt J of Rheumatol & Clinical Immunol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Osteoarthritis of the knee is a major cause of disability with treatment focused only on control of symptoms. Despite the popularity of both acupuncture and homeopathy, evidence of their efficacy for treatment of osteoarthritis remains controversy. Aim of the Work: To assess the efficacy of Acupuncture compared with Homeopathy and with the usual conservative treatment (analgesics and physiotherapy) in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Patients and Methods: Seventy-five patients who had had chronic pain for at least 6 months due to osteoarthritis of the knee (American College of Rheumatology [ACR] criteria and Kellgren-Lawrence score of 2), all continue on their conservative therapy remained unchanged all-through the study. They were divided into three groups; Group I (Acupuncture group): Included 25 patients who were subjected to acupuncture at the standardized acu-point stimulation treatment without electrical stimulation. Sessions were done twice weekly from base line visit to week six. Group II (Homeopathy group): Included 25 patients who were given oral doses of homeopathic remedies that were commonly used for the treatment of osteoarthritis (Arnica Montana, Ruta graveolans and Rhus toxicodendron). Group III (Control group): Included 25 patients who continued only on their pre-study medications .Pain intensity on visual analog scale (VAS), the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score were recorded for each patient before the beginning of treatment, during each visit and at the end of the sessions. The results were statistically analyzed. Results: Pain has improved statistically on both VAS and pain subscale of the WOMAC in group I. Also, the number of tender points decreased significantly and there was significant decrease in the number of patients receiving analgesics for pain control at the end of the study (p<0.05). In addition, a statistically significant improvement in knee function was detected (p<0.05) on the total WOMAC score for knee osteoarthritis and both the function and stiffness subscales of the WOMAC, in addition a statistically significant decrease in knee swelling (knee circumference) was detected in this group, as well as the patient quality of life assessed by the HAQ score in comparison to the control group. There was a statistically significant improvement in the total WOMAC score, both VAS and pain subscale of the WOMAC, number of tender points in group II. Moreover, a significant decrease in the number of patients receiving analgesics for pain control was reported in this group (p<0.05).However, the decrease in knee swelling assessed by the knee circumference was statistically insignificant in this group. In addition, we found that the improvement of pain and function was statistically significant (p<0.05) in comparison to the control group (group III). Conclusions: Both Acupuncture and Homeopathy were effective in reducing pain and improving function of the knee but acupuncture...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture versus Homeopathy as A Complementary Therapy in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Mobasher

Eldin

Zohiery

et al. 2014

Egypt J of Rheumatol & Clinical Immunol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…56 Regarding other potential sources of bias (including lack of intention-to-treat analysis, information about cointerventions, compliance, acceptability and baseline comparisons), 16 studies were found to demonstrate an unclear risk of bias due to the lack of intention-to-treat analysis, insufficient information about cointerventions, compliance and acceptability. [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] Additionally, one of these trials failed to report baseline WOMAC and VAS information. 56 The completeness of the STRICTA checklist for each study is detailed in table 2.…”

Section: Study Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These 19 studies were published between 1992 and 2014. [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] The number of participants in the studies varied from 20 to 712. Two studies were conducted in the USA, [43][44][45] three in Germany, 46 58 59 four in China, 47-49 61 three in the UK, 52 56 57 and one each in Australia, 50 Japan, 51 Greece, 53 Iran, 54 Thailand 55 and Denmark.…”

Section: Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] The number of participants in the studies varied from 20 to 712. Two studies were conducted in the USA, [43][44][45] three in Germany, 46 58 59 four in China, 47-49 61 three in the UK, 52 56 57 and one each in Australia, 50 Japan, 51 Greece, 53 Iran, 54 Thailand 55 and Denmark. 60 Thirteen studies compared acupuncture as a primary treatment against different types of control intervention, 43-45 47 48 50-52 56-60 of which two consisted of no treatment, 50 56 three used allocation to a waiting list, [58][59][60] two used pharmaceutical interventions (namely sodium hyaluronate 47 and glucosamine hydrochloride capsules 48 ), and one each used standard care (oral therapy), 43 usual care (medications and interventions), 52 education, 44 45 topical poultices, 51 isometric exercises 54 and home exercises.…”

Section: Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Acupuncture for Chronic Knee Pain

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective To assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of chronic knee pain (CKP). Methods We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTERAL, CINAHL and four Chinese medical databases from their inception to June 2017. We included randomised controlled trials of acupuncture as the sole treatment or as an adjunctive treatment for CKP. The primary outcome was pain intensity measured by visual analogue scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain subscale and 11-point numeric rating scale. Secondary outcome measurements included the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey and adverse events. The quality of all included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias criteria and the STRICTA (Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture) checklist. Results Nineteen trials were included in this systematic review. Of these, data from 17 studies were available for analysis. Regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture alone or combined with other treatment, the results of the metaanalysis showed that acupuncture was associated with significantly reduced CKP at 12 weeks on WOMAC pain subscale (mean difference (MD) −1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) −1.98 to −0.26, I

show abstract

Acupuncture for Chronic Pain

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Although acupuncture is widely used for chronic pain, there remains considerable controversy as to its value. We aimed to determine the effect size of acupuncture for four chronic pain conditions: back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, chronic headache, and shoulder pain. Methods We conducted a systematic review to identify randomized trials of acupuncture for chronic pain where allocation concealment was determined unambiguously to be adequate. Individual patient data meta-analyses were conducted using data from 29 of 31 eligible trials, with a total of 17,922 patients analyzed. Results In the primary analysis including all eligible trials, acupuncture was superior to both sham and no acupuncture control for each pain condition (all p<0.001). After exclusion of an outlying set of trials that strongly favored acupuncture, the effect sizes were similar across pain conditions. Patients receiving acupuncture had less pain, with scores 0.23 (95% C.I. 0.13, 0.33), 0.16 (95% C.I. 0.07, 0.25) and 0.15 (95% C.I. 0.07, 0.24) standard deviations lower than sham controls for back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, and chronic headache respectively; the effect sizes in comparison to no acupuncture controls were 0.55 (95% C.I. 0.51, 0.58), 0.57 (95% C.I. 0.50, 0.64) and 0.42 (95% C.I. 0.37, 0.46). These results were robust to a variety of sensitivity analyses, including those related to publication bias. Conclusions Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic pain and is therefore a reasonable referral option. Significant differences between true and sham acupuncture indicate that acupuncture is more than a placebo. However, these differences are relatively modest, suggesting that factors in addition to the specific effects of needling are important contributors to the therapeutic effects of acupuncture.

show abstract

A pilot study on using acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to treat knee osteoarthritis (OA)

Cited by 51 publications

References 22 publications

Acupuncture versus Homeopathy as A Complementary Therapy in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Acupuncture versus Homeopathy as A Complementary Therapy in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Acupuncture for Chronic Knee Pain

Acupuncture for Chronic Pain

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About