A pilot study on using acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to treat knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Kazunori Itoh,Hideki Ochi,Yasukazu Katsumi,Satoko Hirota,Hiroshi Kitakoji

doi:10.1186/1749-8546-3-2

Abstract

BackgroundThe present study tests whether a combined treatment of acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is more effective than acupuncture or TENS alone for treating knee osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsThirty-two patients with knee OA were randomly allocated to four groups. The acupuncture group (ACP) received only acupuncture treatment at selected acupoints for knee pain; the TENS group (TENS) received only TENS treatment at pain areas; the acupuncture and TENS group (A&T) received both acupuncture and TENS treatments; the control group (CT) received topical poultice (only when necessary). Each group received specific weekly treatment five times during the study. Outcome measures were pain intensity in a visual analogue scale (VAS) and knee function in terms of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC).ResultsThe ACP, TENS and A&T groups reported lower VAS and WOMAC scores than the control group. Significant reduction in pain intensity (P = 0.039) and significant improvement in knee function (P = 0.008) were shown in the A&T group.ConclusionCombined acupuncture and TENS treatment was effective in pain relief and knee function improvement for the sampled patients suffering from knee OA.

Highlights

The present study tests whether a combined treatment of acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is more effective than acupuncture or TENS alone for treating knee osteoarthritis (OA)
One patient in the acupuncture group (ACP) group, two patients in the TENS group, one patient in the A&T group, and two patients in the control group (CT) group dropped out as they had not responded to the respective treatment
The treatment groups showed lower mean Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores than that of the CT group at week 5 of treatment. These results suggest that acupuncture and TENS treatments have positive effects on the quality of life (QOL) of the knee OA patients, and that A&T treatment was significantly more effective in terms of WOMAC scores than other treatments (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

The present study tests whether a combined treatment of acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is more effective than acupuncture or TENS alone for treating knee osteoarthritis (OA). OA of the knee causes patients severe discomfort and a reduced ability to work [1,2]. When drugs are not adequately effective, replacement surgery is often recommended [4]. Patients with chronic pain increasingly seek alternative methods for pain relief, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) [5] and acupuncture [6,7,8]. TENS has the advantage of being efficacious, inexpensive, simple and essentially free of side effects. Several studies examined the efficacy of acupuncture and TENS treatment for such conditions; how-

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion