Efficacy of electro-acupuncture and manual acupuncture versus sham acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Tu JF, Yang JW, Lin LL, Wang TQ, Du YZ, Liu ZS, Hu H, Zhao JJ, Yu XG, Jia CS, Wang J, Wang T, Hou YQ, Zou X, Wang Y, Shao JK, Wang LQ, Yu ZS, Liu CZ · Trials · 2019 January 25

DOI 10.1186/s13063-018-3138-x

Objective

To investigate the efficacy of electro-acupuncture and manual acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis.

Conclusions

This trial may provide high-quality evidence regarding the efficacy of acupuncture for treating knee osteoarthritis.

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Insights

This trial compares electrical and manual acupuncture with sham treatment to determine whether either improves knee osteoarthritis pain and function.

This multicentre randomised clinical trial assigns people with knee osteoarthritis to electrical acupuncture, manual acupuncture, or sham acupuncture. Each participant receives a course of treatment over eight weeks and attends follow-up assessments through twenty-six weeks. The main outcome assesses whether participants achieve clinically meaningful improvements in both pain and physical function, while additional measures examine symptoms, overall patient assessment, and quality of life. As this is a study protocol, it reports no treatment results. The planned comparison is designed to establish whether electrical or manual acupuncture produces greater clinically meaningful improvements in knee osteoarthritis symptoms and function than sham acupuncture.