A study on effects and morphological changes of acupuncture at MTrPs in treatment of knee osteoarthritis
Objective To observe the therapeutic effects of acupuncture at myofascial trigger points(MTrPs)on pa-tients with knee osteoarthritis(KOA).Methods 70 patients with KOA(mean age 70.3±6.4 years)admitted to Department of Pain Medicine of Huadong Hospital from January 2023 to December 2023 were randomly divided into experimental group(mean age 71.6±8.8 years)and control group(mean age 70.7±7.2 years).The experimental group was treated with acu-puncture at MTrPs+muscle stretching exercise.The control group was treated with sham acupuncture+muscle stretching ex-ercises.6 weeks was one course of treatment.The changes of NRS,ROM,KOOS and thickness of MTrPs under ultrasound were observed and compared between the two groups.Results Both groups could reduce pain degree,enhance range of joint motion and improve KOOS score,with statistical significance(P＜0.05).However,the improvement of the experimental group was statistically significant after 1 week of treatment,and was statistically different from that of the control group after 1 week and 6 weeks of treatment.The MTrPs showed a locally thickened low echo signal under ultrasound.After 6 weeks of acu-puncture treatment,the thickness decreased but did not disappear.Correlation analysis showed that the morphological changes of MTrPs under ultrasound were positively correlated with pain improvement in patients with KOA[The improvement of pain after treatment in the experimental group was positively correlated with the thickness change of proximal MTrPs of the vastus medialis(r=0.463);it was positively correlated with the thickness change of distal MTrPs of the vastus medialis(r=0.41).However,in the control group,the above improvement had no statistical significance(P＞0.05),indicating no correlation].Conclusion Acupuncture at MTrPs can improve morphology and treat KOA,and the changes in the morphology of MTrPs are correlated with pain symptoms of patients.
elderlyknee osteoarthritismyofascial trigger pointacupuncturepainjoint range of motionultrasonic
万方数据
维普
