Comparison of the effects of 10.6- μm infrared laser and traditional moxibustion in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis

The objective was to see whether the laser moxibustion is non-inferior to the traditional moxibustion in alleviating symptoms of knee osteoarthritis such as pain, stiffness, and joint dysfunction as well as improving quality of life for the patients with knee osteoarthritis, and whether a further RCT directly comparing the laser and traditional moxibustion is necessary. Poole d data from two RCTs in patients with knee osteoarthritis, trial ISRCTN68475405 and trial ISRCTN26065334, were used. In the two RCTs, the eligibility criteria were almost identical, the treatment procedure (i.e., sessions, duration, and points) were similar, and the outcome measurements (i.e., WOMAC for symptoms and SF-36 for quality of life) were the same. The double robustness method was used for the WOMAC scale and the SF-36 endpoints to detect the difference between traditional and laser moxibustion. The analysis comprised 55 patients from ISRCTN68475405 in real moxibustion arm (moxibustio n group) and 88 patients from ISRCTN26065334 in real laser moxibustion arm (laser group). Demographic characteristics and course of disease were similar between the two groups. Causal inference, using the doubly robust estimating approach to correct for bias due to baseline differences, showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the WOMAC pain, stiffness, and physical function between the two treatments at midterm, end of treatment, and 4 weeks after the end of treatment (P >  0.05). T...
Source: Lasers in Medical Science - Category: Laser Surgery Source Type: research