Chinese herbal fumigation steam therapy paired with acupuncture in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: A three-armed, randomized, controlled trial

We hypothesized that the addition of Chinese herbal fumigation steam therapy to an acupuncture protocol in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis would yield better results than by acupuncture alone. Outcome measures included, pain, range of motion and health related quality of life. The results showed a significant improvement in reduction of pain with the addition of a full dose Chinese herbal fumigation prescription. The supplemental data was gathered from literature review and used to validate methods and explain, in greater detail, the disease state of knee osteoarthritis that helped the researchers devise the clinical trial protocol. Also, author commentary on the difficulty faced by those investigating Chinese medical interventions within the Western medical Evidence Based Medical system.

我们提出假说：在膝骨关节炎（knee osteoarthritis）的治疗中，于针灸方案基础上联用中药熏蒸蒸汽疗法，其疗效优于单纯针灸治疗。本研究的结局指标包括疼痛程度、关节活动度及健康相关生存质量。结果显示，采用全剂量中药熏蒸处方联合治疗可显著减轻患者疼痛症状。本研究的补充数据来源于文献综述，用于验证研究方法，并更详尽地阐释膝骨关节炎的疾病状态，以此辅助研究人员制定临床试验方案。此外，作者还评述了在西方循证医学体系内开展中医干预研究的研究者所面临的诸多困境。