[Clinical observation on cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion for treatment of knee osteoarthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe clinical therapeutic effect of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion at Zusanli (ST 36) and Xiyan (EX-LE 5) on knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: The patients of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group were treated with monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion at Dubi (ST 35), Zusanli (ST 36) and Neixiyan (EX-LE 4) on the affected side, and the medication group with oral administration of Xianling Gubao Capsules. After treatment for 4 weeks, VAS and index of severity of osteoarthritis (ISOA scale) were used for assessment of clinical therapeutic effect. RESULTS: After treatment, the arthralgia and the index of severity significantly improved in the two groups (P < 0.01), and the analgesic effect and improvement of ISOA in the monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group were better than those in the medication group (P < 0.05). The basic clinical cured rate was 80.0% and the effect-producing time was (10.91 +/- 4.17) days in the monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion group, and 53.3% and (12.28 +/- 4.60) days in the medication group, respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Therapeutic effect of monkshood cake-separated mild-warm moxibustion on knee osteoarthritis is better than that of oral administration of Xianling Gubao Capsules.