Clinical Research of Warming Needle Moxibustion in Treating 30 Cases of Knee Osteoarthritis with Yang Deficiency and Cold Coagulation Syndrome

Objective To discuss the curative effect of warming needle moxibustion in treating knee osteoarthritis with yang deficiency and cold coagulation syndrome.Methods 90 patients were random-ly divided into three groups,warming needle moxibustion group received acupuncture and moxibustion,and Neixiyan(EX-LE4),Waixiyan(EX-LE5) and Yanglingquan(GB34) were chosen as chief acupoints,the control groups received pure acupuncture or medium frequency electrotherapy respectively.The cumulative scores of symptoms and pain intensity scores of three groups were evaluated,and the changes of contents of synovial fluid IL-1,MMP-3 were determined.Results The cumulative scores of symptoms and pain scores were decreased after treatment in the three groups,and there were significant differences among them (P0.01).The decreasing amplitude of the contents of synovial fluid IL-1,MMP-3 in warming needle moxibustion group was higher than those in control groups,and the differences were also significant(P0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy can improve clinical symptoms of patients with knee os-teoarthritis,relieve pain and the therapeutic effect was superior to that of other two methods.