- 期刊
- OpenAccess
Traditional Chinese medicine in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee
摘要
To evaluate whether the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM; 中醫zhōng yī) influences symptoms or functional outcomes in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee (膝關節炎xī guān jié yán). A systematic review of randomized control trials was conducted. Searches for studies in PubMed that were performed between 1965 and August 2013, and retrieved studies were subjected to reference screening. The types of studies included in our review were 1) placebo-based or comparative studies; 2) open label, single-blinded or double-blinded studies; 3) studies evaluating the efficacy of TCM for treating OA of the knee; and 4) studies evaluating only TCM or combination preparations. Trials were conducted with participants over 18 years of age with knee pain and at least three of the following characteristics: 1) an age greater than 50 years; 2) morning stiffness lasting for fewer than 30 min; 3) a crackling or grating sensation; 4) bony tenderness of the knee; 5) bony enlargement of the knee; or 6) no detectable warmth of the joint to the touch. Studies were rated for risk of bias and graded for quality. After screening, 104 studies that satisfied the eligibility requirements were identified, and only 18 randomized control trials were included in the quantitative and qualitative synthesis. Upon review, we found ＂moderate-quality＂ evidence of effects from acupuncture (針灸zhēn jiǔ) on pain, which was measured using a visual analogue scale, and physical function, which was measured using qigong (氣功qì gōng) with motion. ＂Low-quality＂ evidence was found regarding the effects of acupuncture on physical function, and no evidence was found regarding the effects of herbal medicine on pain or physical function. Herbal patches (藥布yào bù) appeared to affect pain and physical and function, but these effects were not found to be significant.