Acupuncture Combined with Chinese Massage in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective:To observe the efficacy of acupuncture combined with Chinese massage in the treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis ( KOA) .Methods:96 outpatients with KOA were randomly assigned to be treated by acu-puncture and Chinese massage or only by acupuncture , 5 times a week for 4 weeks.The co-primary outcome measures were the changes in pain intensity ( visual analogue scale , VAS) and WOMAC index ( Western Ontar-io and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index ) after 4 weeks.Results:46 patients by acupuncture with Chinese massage and 45 patients by acupuncture completed the study .Both groups achieved obvious clinical efficacy , and improvement in clinical efficacy by acupuncture with Chinese massage was greater than only by acupuncture ( P<0 .01 ) .The endpoint from baseline was significantly decreased in VAS score , pain score ,stiffness score , function scores and total score of WOMAC index for both therapies , and improvements were significantly greater for acupuncture with Chinese massage than only acupuncture for these changes ( P<0 .05 ) .Conclusion:Acu-puncture combined with Chinese massage or acupuncture is effective in the treatment of KOA , and the efficacy of acupuncture combined with Chinese massage is superior to acupuncture obviously , particularly with more ad-vantages in relieving pain and stiffness , improving knee joint function of patients ,which is worth promoting and applying especially .