College of Acupuncture and Tuina, Shanghai University of TCM, Shanghai, 201203, China.
Eur J Med Res. 2022 Aug 31;27(1):162. doi: 10.1186/s40001-022-00795-9.
Knee osteoarthritis, a common degenerative joint disease, has been widely treated by electroacupuncture in recent years. However, there are too many parameters of the treatment currently, resulting in various applications in clinical practice. This study aims to summarize the optimal stimulation parameters of electroacupuncture for knee osteoarthritis in clinical studies by applying data mining techniques.
Four databases including Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for clinical studies on electroacupuncture treating knee osteoarthritis from 2012 to 2021. A database was established by Microsoft Excel 2020 and analyzed by R Version 4.1.1.
Forty-six articles were included according to the established criteria. The most used electroacupuncture stimulation parameters were 0.30 mm × 40 mm needle, continuous wave, low frequency of current (mainly 2 Hz), stimulation duration for 30 min per treatment, and frequency of treatment for once a day. Eighteen acupoints were mentioned and the most used ones include Dubi (ST35), Liangqiu (ST34), Neixiyan (EX-LE4), Xuehai (SP10), Yanglingquan (GB34), and Yinlingquan (SP9), and those most generally used acupoints are closely arranged on the Stomach Channel of Foot Yangming. Cluster analysis showed two groups, one for obligatory acupoints and one for adjunctive ones. The association analysis showed the most supported acupoint pair was Liangqiu (ST34) and Xuehai (SP10).
Continuous wave, low frequency of current (2 Hz), 30-min stimulation, and local acupoint selection are frequently used for electroacupuncture treating knee osteoarthritis. Due to the limitations of this study, further research and more standardized, multi-centered, and large-sample clinical trials should be conducted to provide more convincing evidence.
膝骨关节炎是一种常见的退行性关节疾病，近年来已广泛应用电针治疗。然而，目前治疗参数过多，导致临床实践中的应用各不相同。本研究旨在通过数据挖掘技术总结电针对膝骨关节炎的最佳刺激参数。
检索 2012 年至 2021 年期间发表的电针治疗膝骨关节炎的临床研究，数据库包括 Pubmed、Cochrane Library、Embase 和 Web of Science。使用 Microsoft Excel 2020 建立数据库，并通过 R Version 4.1.1 进行分析。
根据既定标准，共纳入 46 篇文章。最常用的电针刺激参数为 0.30mm×40mm 针、连续波、电流低频（主要为 2Hz）、每次治疗刺激持续 30min、每天治疗一次。共提到 18 个穴位，最常用的穴位包括犊鼻（ST35）、梁丘（ST34）、内膝眼（EX-LE4）、血海（SP10）、阳陵泉（GB34）和阴陵泉（SP9），最常用的穴位紧密排列在足阳明胃经上。聚类分析显示两组，一组为必选穴位，一组为辅助穴位。关联分析显示最支持的穴位对是梁丘（ST34）和血海（SP10）。
连续波、低频电流（2Hz）、30min 刺激和局部穴位选择是电针治疗膝骨关节炎的常用方法。由于本研究的局限性，应进一步开展研究和更多标准化、多中心、大样本的临床试验，以提供更具说服力的证据。
