The Effectiveness Comparison of Different Acupuncture-Related Therapies on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis aims to assess the efficacy of acupuncture-related therapy on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients. METHOD: We searched PubMed, Embase, and CNKI databases to screen eligible trials between 2017 and 2022. All trials that used acupuncture/moxibustion of KOA patients were included. Study selection and data extraction were performed by 2 researchers independently. The statistics was performed by using R 4.1.1. RESULTS: A total of 17 trials were included in our meta-analysis. Meta-analysis results showed the evidence of the relation of several common acupunture/moxibustion treatments by network meta-analysis. In the fixed effect model, acupuncture/moxibustion has superior therapy efficacy than sham treatment (mean difference = −0.34, 95% confidence interval = (−0.52,−0.16), P=0.95). In fixed effect model, specific acupuncture/moxibustion has superior therapy efficacy than usual acupuncture/moxibustion (mean difference = –0.45, 95% confidence interval = (−0.62, −0.29), P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture/moxibustion has superior therapy efficacy than sham treatment. Specific acupuncture/moxibustion has superior therapy efficacy than usual acupuncture/moxibustion.