A meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials found a greater reduction in pain in people with peripheral joint osteoarthritis (OA) treated with acupuncture compared to controls. Additionally, the review found manual acupuncture to be significantly more effective in OA patients compared to sham acupuncture (4). Traditional acupuncture involves needling of fixed points and additional points on the body to a depth of 5 to 40 millimeters, while sham acupuncture involves needling to a depth of 1 to 3 millimeters into the lower back, avoiding known pressure points.
Manheimer evaluated eleven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and concluded that acupuncture showed clinical benefits in pain and function for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched to January 2007 for relevant publications. RCTs with an observation period of six weeks or more comparing acupuncture treatment with a sham, usual care or waiting list control group in patients with diagnosed osteoarthritis of the knee reporting pain and function were included. Two reviewers independently screened studies for relevance, with disagreements resolved by discussion. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated by using differences in improvements from baseline for each group (5).
Acupuncture for Controlling Pain in Lithotripsy
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a treatment for kidney stones using an acoustic pulse to break them up into pieces so they may be able to pass out the urinary tract. In this study by Hodzic et al, 102 patients were randomized into two groups where one group received analgesics (50 mg pethidine and 10 mg diazepam) and other group received acupuncture. Every minute till 21 min after starting the therapy and 10 min after termination, the pain sensation was rated using numeric pain scale. Results showed that analgesic effect of acupuncture was significantly superior to that of standard analgesics. These results were not statistically significant (6).
Acupuncture for Peripheral Neuropathy in Diabetes Patients
Researchers compared IV alpha lipoic acid and alprostadil (a vasodilating medication) to acupuncture for diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Both groups achieved a benefit from the IV medication (62.1% efficacy) and acupuncture (83.5% efficacy). The conclusion was that “acupuncture is superior to medication in improving clinical signs of sensory disorder, reflection disturbance and muscle weakness, nerve conduction and clinical curative effect.”
