Traditional Chinese acupuncture for mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis

Traditional Chinese Acupuncture vs minimal acupuncture for mild to moderate Knee OsteoArthritis: a randomized controlled pilot trial

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN14016893

Enrollment

Registered

2016-07-04

Start date

2016-04-30

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2023-08-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Osteoarthritis Musculoskeletal Diseases Mild-moderate knee osteoarthritis

Interventions

Participants are randomly allocated to one of two groups. Intervention group: Participants are treated with Traditional Chinese Acupuncture for 8 weeks. Patients in Traditional Chinese Acupuncture gr

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Age between 45 and 75 years 2. Pain in single or double knee joints for at least 6 months 3. Kellgren–Lawrence grade II or III in the last 6 months 4. Morning stiffness at most 30 minutes 5. Signed informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Surgery of the afflicted extremity or waiting for surgery 2. Knee pain induced by other conditions (bone tumor, bone fracture, acute infection, gout, etc) 3. Serious organic or psychiatric diseases (epilepsy, depression, etc.) 4. Severe coagulopathy 5. Pregnant or breast-feeding 6. History of receiving acupuncture, physical therapy, rehabilitation, analgesia, anti-inflammatory medication or cartilage nutrition agent in the past week 7. Current gastrointestinal ulcer 8. Participation in another clinical study in the past three months 9. Inadequacy for this trial

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Response rate is determined using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) at baseline and 8 weeks.	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. Pain is measured using WOMAC pain subscore at baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 26 weeks 2. Knee-joint function is measured using WOMAC functional subscore at baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 26 weeks 3. Number of emergency analgesics (Celebrex) used is recorded using Drug Use Form at 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 26 weeks 4. Quality of life is measured using the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) at baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 26 weeks 5. Adverse events are measured using Adverse Event Form at 8 weeks and 16 weeks	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Pain is measured using WOMAC pain subscore at baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 26 weeks 2. Knee-joint function is measured using WOMAC functional subscore at baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 26 weeks 3. Number of emergency analgesics (Celebrex) used is recorded using Drug Use Form at 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 26 weeks 4. Quality of life is measured using the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) at baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 26 weeks 5. Adverse events are measured using Adverse Event Form at 8 weeks and 16 weeks

—

Countries

China

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 28, 2026