The effects of collateral meridian therapy for knee osteoarthritis pain management: a pilot study.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine whether collateral meridian (CM) therapy was feasible in treating knee osteoarthritis (OA) pain. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with knee OA and knee pain were randomly allocated to 2 groups. The CM group patients received CM therapy, whereas the control patients received placebo treatment for knee pain relief. Patients in the CM group received 2 CM treatments weekly for 3 weeks. The outcome measures were pain intensity on a visual analog scale, and knee function was determined using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index. RESULTS: In the CM group, the posttreatment visual analog scale and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index scores were lower than those of the control group; a significant reduction in pain intensity (P = .02, P = .01, respectively) and improvement in knee function (P = .04, P = .03, respectively) were shown in the CM group at the second and third week. CONCLUSION: Collateral meridian therapy may be feasible and effective for knee OA pain relief and knee function recovery. Therefore, additional randomized control trials are warranted.