Trial reportArthritis research & therapy2014
Effectiveness of moxibustion treatment as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Trial report in Arthritis research & therapy, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 5 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
30 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Placebo setting in trials of traditional Chinese medicine nursing techniques: a systematic critical reviewBMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Pooled it
- The Effectiveness and Safety of Moxibustion for Treating Knee Osteoarthritis: A PRISMA Compliant Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Pain research & management · 2019Pooled it
- Acupuncture for hip osteoarthritis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Moxibustion Treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Moxibustion is an Alternative in Treating Knee Osteoarthritis: The Evidence From Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Effect of 10.6-μm COJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Trial
- Comparison of the effects of 10.6-μm infrared laser and traditional moxibustion in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.Lasers in medical science · 2020Trial
- Trial
- A Feasibility Study of Moxibustion for Treating Anorexia and Improving Quality of Life in Patients With Metastatic Cancer: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial.Integrative cancer therapies · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Data Mining of Acupuncture Prescriptions for Lateral Epicondylitis: A Literature-Based Analysis of Acupoint Patterns and Parameters.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Acupuncture-Related Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Review of Neuroimaging Studies.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
- Efficacy and safety comparison of infrared laser moxibustion and traditional moxibustion in knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a Zelen-design randomized controlled non-inferiority clinical trial.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Article
- Comparison of Intra-articular Steroid and Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis.Cureus · 2023Article
- Effects of Acupuncture, Moxibustion, Cupping, and Massage on Sports Injuries: A Narrative Review.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- The Case for Moxibustion for Painful Syndromes: History, principles and rationale.Current research in complementary & alternative medicine · 2022Article
- Research Trends of Moxibustion Therapy for Pain Treatment Over the Past Decade: A Bibliometric Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2022Review
- Efficacy of Moxibustion Smoke for Stage 1 Post-Stroke Shoulder-Hand Syndrome: Protocol for a Multi-Center, Single-Blind Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Efficacy of Acupuncture-Related Therapy in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of pain research · 2021Review
- The efficacy of jade moxibustion in knee osteoarthritis.Medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionOur objective was to compare the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese moxibustion to that of sham moxibustion in patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) pain.
methodsWe conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial involving 110 patients with KOA who met the inclusion criteria. These patients randomly received either active moxibustion (n = 55) or sham moxibustion control (n = 55) at acupoints Dubi (ST 35), extra-point Neixiyan (EX-LE 4), and an Ashi (tender) point three times a week for 6 weeks. Effects were evaluated with Western Ontario and McMaster Universities' Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC VA 3.1) criteria at the end of the course of treatment and 3, 12, and 24 weeks after the initial treatment.
resultsThe WOMAC pain scores showed greater improvement in the active treatment group than in control at weeks 3 (P = 0.012), 6 (P <0.001), 12 (P = 0.002), and 24 (P = 0.002) as did WOMAC physical function scores of the active treatment group at week 3 (P = 0.002), 6 (P = 0.015), and 12 (P <0.001) but not 24 (P = 0.058). Patients and practitioners were blinded successfully, and no significant adverse effects were found during the trial.
conclusionsA 6-week course of moxibustion seems to relieve pain effectively and improve function in patients with KOA for up to 18 weeks after the end of treatment. Moxibustion treatment appears to be safe, and the usefulness of the novel moxa device was validated.
trial registrationCurrent controlled trial: ISRCTN68475405. Registered 4 April 2014.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.