Efficacy of transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation combined with intra-articular sodium hyal-uronate in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Objective To observe the efficacy of transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation com-bined with sodium hyaluronate intra-articular injection in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods Eighty patients with knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided into three groups: transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation combined with sodium hyaluronate injection group (group A, n=27) , transcutane-ous electric acupoint stimulation group (group B, n=27) and sodium hyaluronate injection group (group C, n=26) . The pain, stiffness and function of knee joint were evaluated by WOMAC at 1, 2, 6 months after the treat-ment. The Nimodipine method was used to evaluate the efficacy. Results The pain, stiffness and function scores of knee joint were lower after the treatment than those before the treatment (P<0.05) . The pain score was lower in group A than those in group B at 1, 2, 6 months after the treatment, and lower in group A than those in group C at 1, 6 months after the treatment (P<0.05) . The function scores of knee joint were lower in group A than those in group B and C at 1, 2, 6 months after the treatment (P<0.05) . The function scores were lower in group A and B at 1 month than those at 2 months after the treatment (P<0.05) . The pain and function scores in group A and C, and the function score in group B were higher at 6 months than those at 2 months (P<0.05) . Conclusion The efficacy of transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation combined with sodium hyal-uronate intra-articular injection is superior to single transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation or sodium hy-aluronate intra-articular injection for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Key words: Osteoarthritis, knee; Transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation; Sodium hyaluronate