Review Article

Efficacy Comparison of Five Different Acupuncture Methods on Pain, Stiffness, and Function in Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Network Meta-Analysis

Table 2

Results (MD, with 95% CI) of the pairwise meta-analysis for pain and function scores.

ā€‰Sham
needle vs Education
Acupuncture vs Sham needleElectro-acupuncture vs Sham needleElectro-acupuncture vs Warm needleAcupuncture vs Waiting listAcupuncture vs EducationElectro-acupuncture vs EducationFire needle vs Electro-acupunctureFire needle vs Warm needleWarm needle vs Waiting list

Pain-1.14 [-1.20, -1.08]-0.68 [-1.06, -0.31]-2.25 [-3.42, -1.08]-2.58 [-4.77, -0.39]-3.01 [-4.71, -1.31]-2.09 [-2.17, -2.01]-2.09 [-2.17, -2.01]-2.57 [-3.67, -1.47]-1.70 [-4.25, 0.85]-4.26 [-6.50, -2.02]

Function-3.78 [-3.95, -3.61]-1.74 [-3.82, 0.33]-5.92 [-9.43, -2.41]-2.36 [-12.27, 7.55]-11.98 [-18.01, -5.95]-6.56 [-6.83, -6.29]-6.56 [-6.80, -6.32]-1.80 [-3.11, -0.49]-2.40 [-7.78, 2.98]-14.70 [-23.86, -5.54]

Boldface and italic meant significance. (Note: if MD0, it meant that the therapeutic group was better than the control group.)