Meta-Analysis of Curative Effect of Needle Warming Moxibustion and Electroacupuncture on Knee Osteoarthritis

WU Ying; XIE Zhongyi; SUN Shiquan; LI Huanan; TAN Tao

Abstract：Objectives:To evaluate and compare the curative effects of needle warming moxibustion and elec troacupuncture on patients with knee osteoarthritis ( KOA ) . Methods:The database was retrieved to collect randomised controlled trials ( RCTs ) which took needle warming moxibustion to treat KOA and with elec-troacupuncture as the treating method of the control group. The data was extracted for the methodological quality. Then the meta-analysis was conducted by Revman 5.3 software. Results:A total of 11 RCTs involv-ing 772 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that:compared with electroacupuncture, no significant difference was shown in recovery rate (mean difference=1.12 points;95% confidence intervals [CI],0.76 to 1.65;P>0.05) and total effectiveness rate(risk ratio=1.21;95%CI,0.81 to 1.80;P>0.05). Four articles took the total and sub-Western Ontario and McMaster Universities ( WOMAC ) Osteoarthritis index scores as the outcome,of which sample size is 279. Five articles took visual analog scores(VAS) as the pain indicator,of which sample size was 339. The improvement in WOMAC(SMD,0.08;95%CI,-0.15 to 0.32;P>0.05) and VAS(WMD,0.25;95%CI,-0.11 to 0.61;P>0.05) showed no statistically significant difference. Conclusions:The curative effect of needle warming moxibustion is not superior to that of electroacupuncture in treatment of KOA.