Patterns of Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis in Thermal Laser Acupuncture Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) manifests with pain, joint stiffness, and limited function. In traditional Chinese medicine, knee OA is differentiated into three patterns:yangdeficiency and cold coagulation, kidney deficiency, and blood stasis. The objective of this study was to determine whetheryangdeficiency cold coagulation patients respond better to thermal laser acupuncture treatment than do non-yangdeficient patients. Fifty-two patients with OA were allocated to group A (yangdeficient,n=26) or B (non-yangdeficient,n=26). All patients received a 20-min thermal laser acupuncture treatment at acupoint Dubi (ST 35) three times a week for two weeks and twice a week for another four weeks. Outcome assessments were performed immediately after the first treatment, and at weeks 2, 6, and 10. Group A function scores were significantly better than those of Group B at weeks 2 (P=0.049), 6 (P=0.046), and 10 (P=0.042), but no significant differences were found between the two groups in pain and stiffness scores at any time point. No significant adverse effect was observed. The combined 10.6 μm–650 nm laser treatment might be most beneficial toyangdeficiency cold coagulation knee OA patients, particularly in improving function.