ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2020
Effect of Electroacupuncture versus Sham Electroacupuncture in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03366363 (Efficacy of Acupuncture Therapy Versus Sham Acupuncture on Knee Osteoarthritis), which is not on this map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Efficacy of Acupuncture Therapy Versus Sham Acupuncture on Knee Osteoarthritis: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of physical therapies for patients with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Adjunctive therapies in addition to land-based exercise therapy for osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Combination Treatment with Thread-Embedding Acupuncture and Electroacupuncture for Knee Osteoarthritis Patients with Postoperative Pain: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Trial
- Advances in Electroacupuncture for Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: Mechanisms, Efficacy, and Future Directions.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- A bibliometric analysis of traditional Chinese non-pharmacological therapies in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis from 2012 to 2022.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- The Effectiveness Comparison of Different Acupuncture-Related Therapies on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo explore the feasibility of evaluating the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture versus sham electroacupuncture for patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).
methodA pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted at a teaching hospital in Beijing. A total of 30 patients with KOA (Kellgren grade II or III) were randomly allocated to an eight-week treatment of either electroacupuncture or sham electroacupuncture. Patients and outcome assessors were blinded to group allocation. The primary outcome was the proportion of responders achieving at least 1.14 seconds decrease in the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) at week eight compared with baseline. The secondary outcomes included the knee range of motion, the knee extensor and flexor muscle strength, Lequesne index, 9-step stair-climb test (9-SCT), and TUG.
resultsOf 30 patients allocated to two groups, 27 (90%) completed the study. The proportion of responders was 53.3% (8 of 15) for electroacupuncture group and 26.7% (4 of 15) for sham electroacupuncture group by the intention-to-treat analysis (
conclusionOur research demonstrated that further evaluation of the effectiveness of electroacupuncture versus sham electroacupuncture was feasible and safe for patients with KOA. Whether or not the electroacupuncture can improve the physical functions of knee joint, expand the knee range of motion, and increase the extensor and flexor muscle strength more significantly than sham electroacupuncture, future studies can be designed with larger sample size, randomization design and less biases. This trial is registered with NCT03366363.
Identifiers
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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.