Clinical Observation of Moxibustion in Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective To observe the effects of moxibustion in treating knee osteoarthritis(KOA).Method Totally 105 patients with KOA were randomly divided into a moxibustion group(n=39), an electroacupuncture group(n=44) and a Celebrex group(n=22). The three groups were treated successively for 4 weeks. The visual analogue scale(VAS) score of knee-joint pain and knee-joint function score were observed. Result Seven days, fourteen days and twenty-eight days respectively after the treatment, the VAS scores of knee-joint pain and knee-joint function scores were significantly decreased in the three groups(P0.001). Fourteen days and twenty-eight days after the intervention, the knee-joint function scores of the moxibustion group and electroacupuncture group were significantly higher than those of the Celebrex group(P0.05). Conclusion Moxibustion therapy can improve the clinical symptoms and the knee-joint function in patients with KOA, similar to the electroacupuncture group and Celebrex group, and the moxibustion group has better effect in improving the knee-joint function compared to the Celebrex group.