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Akupunktur als komplementares behandlungsverfahren in der physikalischen medizin am beispiel der koxarthrose (Acupuncture as a complementary treatment in physical medicine: its use in osteoarthritis of the hip) [German]
Fink M, Karst M, Wippermann B, Gehrke A
Physikalische Medizin, Rehabilitationsmedizin, Kurortmedizin 2001 Aug;11(4):123-128
clinical trial
8/10 [Eligibility criteria: Yes; Random allocation: Yes; Concealed allocation: Yes; Baseline comparability: Yes; Blind subjects: Yes; Blind therapists: No; Blind assessors: Yes; Adequate follow-up: Yes; Intention-to-treat analysis: No; Between-group comparisons: Yes; Point estimates and variability: Yes. Note: Eligibility criteria item does not contribute to total score] *This score has been confirmed*

AIM: (1) To examine the clinical efficacy of acupuncture as a complementary physical therapy in the treatment of coxarthrosis. (2) Test of a novel acupuncture control for its usefulness in controlled clinical studies. PURPOSE: In spite of the increasing acceptance of acupuncture, including in physical medicine, there is a lack of controlled efficacy studies for this procedure. The obvious problem in acupuncture studies, as in all physical methods of treatment, is the coice of the control treatment. We therefore present the first clinical study of the efficicacy of symptom-specific acupuncture in patients with coxarthrosis, coupled with an examination of the usefulness of a new control acupuncture. MATERIAL, METHODS: Prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind study. 67 patients were enrolled in the study, split into two treatment groups and treated 9 times during 3 weeks. The acupuncture treatment was according to the recommendations of traditional Chinese acupuncture. A modified minimal acupuncture, as described by Vincent, was used as the control treatment. The outcome variables were intensity of pain (VAS), Hip Function Index (Lequesne), over-all assessment (Carlsson) and a modified expectancy scale (Borkovec). RESULTS: (1) The acceptance of the new control acupuncture and of the traditional acupuncture was similar, with both aimed 5.2 +/- 1.7 points according to the questionnaire. (2) For both treatments there was a significant improvement of symptoms on follow-up. The mean reduction in pain was 27% and the hip function index improved by 18%. There were no significant differences between the two treatments. CONCLUSION: (1) The acceptance and credibility of control acupuncture is similar to that of genuine acupuncture. (2) The results of the study indicate that the efficacy in coxarthrosis of symptom-specific acupuncture is comparable to that of segmental stimulation with acupuncture needles (control acupuncture) in the dermatoma of the effected joint.

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