Objectives : To determine whether individualized acupuncture (IA) provides greater pain relief and improved function compared with standardized acupuncture (SA) in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
Methods : Design is a randomized single blind controlled trial with two intervention arms (IA vs SA) of 6 weeks’ duration and 3 months follow up. An orthopedist diagnosed 50 patients’ symptoms as knee osteoarthritis. Interventions were applied by 2 residents studying the acupuncture and moxibustion spe- cially in Dongguk University International Hospital. Primary outcome measure is pain as measured by visual analogue scale (VAS). Secondary measures of pain and disability include WOMAC, SF-36, LFI and KHAQ.
Results : The 50 participants were well matched for age, sex, bad side, VAS, WOMAC, SF-36, LFI and KHAQ scores at the baseline. 3 participants dropped out. There have not been any adverse events in both groups. Participants in both groups experienced great improvement in all measures except SF- 36at 3 and 6 weeks. At 18 weeks, the IA group experienced significantly greater improvement than the SA group in VAS but not in WOMAC, SF-36, LFI and KHAQ.
Conclusions : Manipulation of IA seems to provide pain relief longer for osteoarthritis of the knee when compared with SA.