Seung-Hoon Lee, Kun-Hyung Kim, Tae-Hun Kim, Jung-Eun Kim Joo-Hee Kim, Kyung-Won Kang, So-Young Jung, Ae-Ran Kim Hyo-Ju Park, Mi-Suk Shin, Kwon-Eui Hong, Sun-Mi Choi 1Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Meridian Research Group, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine 2Dept. of acupuncture & moxibustion, Pusan National University, Korean Medicine Hospital 3Dept. of acupuncture & Moxibusion, College of Oriental Medicine, Dae-Jeon University Abstract Objectives : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of massive clinical research and to make a basic analysis on the effectiveness and safety of moxibustion treatment on knee osteoarthritis compared to usual care. Methods and Results : This study is a protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial. Forty participants are assigned to the moxibustion group (n=20) and usual care group (n=20). Participants assigned to the moxibustion group receive moxibustion treatment on the affected knee(s) at six standard acupuncture points (ST36, ST35, ST34, SP9, Ex-LE04 and SP10) three times per week for four weeks (total of 12 sessions). Participants in the usual care group don't receive moxibustion treatment during the study period and follow-up are made on the 5th, 9th and 13th weeks after random allocation. Both groups are allowed to use any kind of treatment, including surgery, conventional medication, physical treatment, acupuncture, herbal medicine, over-the-counter drugs and other active treatments. Education material that explains knee osteoarthritis and current management options and self-exercise is provided for each group. The pain scale of the Korean Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Questionnaire (K-WOMAC) is the primary outcome measurement used in this study. Other subscales of the K-WOMAC, the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Physical Function test, Patient Global Assessment, and Pain Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) are used as outcome variables to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture. Safety is assessed at every visit. Conclusions : The result of this trial will provide a basis for the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment for knee osteoarthritis.