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Acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy to pharmacological treatment in patients with chronic pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee: a 3-armed, randomized, placebo-controlled trial
Pain, 06/29/2012
Clinical Article
Mavrommatis CI et al. – The authors conclude that acupuncture with etoricoxib is more effective than sham acupuncture with etoricoxib, or etoricoxib alone for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.
Methods- A total of 120 patients with knee osteoarthritis were randomly allocated to 3 groups: group I was treated with acupuncture and etoricoxib, group II with sham acupuncture and etoricoxib, and group III with etoricoxib.
- The primary efficacy variable was the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) index and its subscales at the end of treatment at week 8.
- Secondary efficacy variables included the WOMAC index at the end of weeks 4 and 12, a visual analogue scale (VAS) at the end of weeks 4, 8, and 12, and the Short Form 36 version 2 (SF–36v2) health survey at the end of week 8.
- An algometer was used to determine changes in a predetermined unique fixed trigger point for every patient at the end of weeks 4, 8, and 12.
- Group I exhibited statistically significant improvements in primary and secondary outcome measures, except for Short Form mental component, compared with the other treatment groups.
