Takeaway
- Acupuncture plus hyaluronic acid (HA) injection is more effective than HA injection alone for knee osteoarthritis (KOA), according to a meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Why this matters
- Results suggest that acupuncture in combination with HA injection is a preferred treatment option, but methodological limitations warrant more research.
Study design
- A meta-analysis of 10 RCTs involving 998 participants.
- Primary outcomes were pain by visual analog scale and knee symptoms and function by Lysholm knee score (range 1-100, with higher scores indicating fewer symptoms and better function).
- Funding: None disclosed.
Key results
- Acupuncture+HA injection vs HA injection alone yielded superior:
- Knee symptoms and function:
- Mean difference (MD), 8.09 (P<.00001>
- Pain relief:
- MD, −1.39 (P<.00001>
- Clinical efficacy rate:
- Relative risk, 1.23 (P<.00001>
- Knee symptoms and function:
Limitations
- None of the included studies mentioned blinding.
- Most included studies had relatively small sample sizes.
- All studies were from China and may not be applicable to other populations.
- Heterogeneity across studies.
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