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Updated: Sep 5, 2025
Author Spotlight: Investigating the Mechanism of Action of Acupotomy in Treating Knee Osteoarthritis
Published on: October 20, 2023
The Effectiveness Comparison of Different Acupuncture-Related Therapies on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis
Chun Ye1, Jianlong Zhou2, Miaofen Wang3
1Department of Emergency, Ningbo Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315010, China.
Objective:
This meta-analysis aims to assess the efficacy of acupuncture-related therapy on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients.
Method:
We searched PubMed, Embase, and CNKI databases to screen eligible trials between 2017 and 2022. All trials that used acupuncture/moxibustion of KOA patients were included. Study selection and data extraction were performed by 2 researchers independently. The statistics was performed by using R 4.1.1.
Results:
A total of 17 trials were included in our meta-analysis. Meta-analysis results showed the evidence of the relation of several common acupunture/moxibustion treatments by network meta-analysis. In the fixed effect model, acupuncture/moxibustion has superior therapy efficacy than sham treatment (mean difference = -0.34, 95% confidence interval = (-0.52,-0.16), P=0.95). In fixed effect model, specific acupuncture/moxibustion has superior therapy efficacy than usual acupuncture/moxibustion (mean difference = -0.45, 95% confidence interval = (-0.62, -0.29), P < 0.01).
Conclusion:
Acupuncture/moxibustion has superior therapy efficacy than sham treatment. Specific acupuncture/moxibustion has superior therapy efficacy than usual acupuncture/moxibustion.
