Trial reportLasers in medical science2009
Effect of combined laser acupuncture on knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study.
Trial report in Lasers in medical science, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of laser acupuncture for patients with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Lasers in medical science · 2026Pooled it
- Laser acupuncture in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review and network meta-analysis on the optimal wavelength of low-level light therapy (LLLT) in treating knee osteoarthritis symptoms.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of laser acupuncture on osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of externally-applied, non-pharmacological Interventions on short- and long-term symptoms and inflammatory cytokine levels in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of pain relief effects by laser irradiation on joint areas.Photomedicine and laser surgery · 2012Pooled it
- Efficacy of focused low-intensity pulsed ultrasound therapy for the management of knee osteoarthritis: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2016Trial
- High-intensity versus low-level laser therapy in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.Lasers in medical science · 2014Trial
- Effectiveness of moxibustion treatment as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.Arthritis research & therapy · 2014Trial
- Laser acupuncture in patients with temporomandibular dysfunction: a randomized controlled trial.Lasers in medical science · 2013Trial
- Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic knee pain: protocol for a randomised controlled trial using a Zelen design.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2012Trial
- Photobiomodulation for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: therapeutic effects and molecular mechanism.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Laser Acupuncture for the Pain of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Moxibustion treatment increases the survival rate of lung infection of patients bed-ridden due to osteoporotic fracture of the spine via regulation of the inflammatory responses.Archives of medical science : AMS · 2023Article
- Article
- Guidelines versus evidence: what we can learn from the Australian guideline for low-level laser therapy in knee osteoarthritis? A narrative review.Lasers in medical science · 2021Review
- The Effectiveness of Laser Acupuncture for Treatment of Musculoskeletal Pain: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies.Journal of pain research · 2021Article
- Effect of Compound Laser Acupuncture-Moxibustion on Blood Glucose, Fasting Insulin and Blood Lipids Levels in Type 2 Diabetic Rats.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2020Article
- Examination of the cellular mechanisms of leukocyte elevation by 10.6 μm and 650 nm laser acupuncture-moxibustion.Lasers in medical science · 2019Article
- Laser Acupuncture for Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Our objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of combined 10.6 microm and 650 nm laser irradiation on patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Forty patients with OA were randomly allocated to an active laser group or to a placebo laser group (20 per group). They either received active or sham laser treatment at acupoint Dubi (ST 35) in a total of 12 sessions. There was significant difference between the two groups in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) osteoarthritis index pain score change from baseline after 2 weeks of treatment (P = 0.047). The pain reduction of the active laser treatment group was 49%, whereas that of the placebo control group was only 13%. However, due to the high patient drop-out rate, the 4-week assessment could not be analyzed. Combined laser treatment seems beneficial to patients with knee OA. However, due to the small sample size and the high drop-out rate of patients in the placebo group, a large sample-size clinical trial is warranted to determine further the therapeutic efficacy of the device.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.