The design and protocol of heat-sensitive moxibustion for knee osteoarthritis: a multicenter randomized controlled trial on the rules of selecting moxibustion location

作者：Rixin Chen, Mingren Chen, Ming-Fei Kang, Jun Xiong, Zhenhai Chi, Bo Zhang, Yong Fu · 发表于：BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine · 年份：2010 · DOI：10.1186/1472-6882-10-32 · 被引用次数：30 · 研究领域：Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies、Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms、Pain Mechanisms and Treatments

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis is a major cause of pain and functional limitation. Complementary and alternative medical approaches have been employed to relieve symptoms and to avoid the side effects of conventional medication. Moxibustion has been widely used to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis. Our past researches suggested heat-sensitive moxibustion might be superior to the conventional moxibustion. Our objective is to investigate the effectiveness of heat-sensitive moxibustion compared with conventional moxibustion or conventional drug treatment. METHODS: This study consists of a multi-centre (four centers in China), randomised, controlled trial with three parallel arms (A: heat-sensitive moxibustion; B: conventional moxibustion; C: conventional drug group). The moxibustion locations are different from A and B. Group A selects heat-sensitization acupoint from the region consisting of Yin Lingquan(SP9), Yang Lingquan(GB34), Liang Qiu(ST34), and Xue Hai (SP10). Meanwhile, fixed acupoints are used in group B, that is Xi Yan (EX-LE5) and He Ding (EX-LE2). The conventional drug group treats with intra-articular Sodium Hyaluronate injection. The outcome measures above will be assessed before the treatment, the 30 days of the last moxibustion session and 6 months after the last moxibustion session. DISCUSSION: This trial will utilize high quality trial methodologies in accordance with CONSORT guidelines. It will provide evidence for the effectiveness of moxibustion as a...