Objective

2

To discuss the effect of acupuncture combined with orthopedic formentation on the gait characteristics of patients with knee osteoarthritis of cold-dampness obstruction syndrome.

Methods

2

A total of 126 cases with knee osteoarthritis who were admitted by the Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion and Department of Orthopedics， Huguosi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from January 2021 to May 2023 were collected as the research subjects， and divided into three groups by using random numbers generated by block randomization method （block length is 9）. After excluding the lost patients， 36 cases were included in acupuncture group， 35 cases in orthopedic formentation group and 38 cases in combined treatment group. The acupuncture group was treated with a combination of local Yang needling and conventional acupoint selection acupuncture scheme， the orthopedic formentation group was treated with external orthopedic formentation， and the acupuncture combined with orthopedic formentation group was treated with a combination of local Yang needling and conventional acupoint selection acupuncture and orthopedic formentation. The three groups were treated once every 1 or 2 d and three times a week for 8 weeks. The gait characteristics before treatment， at the end of treatment and at the 16th week in follow up was evaluated by adopting IDEEA3 portable gait analyzer. Observation indicators included single leg support time， double leg support time， cycle time， ratio of single leg support time to double leg support time （SLS/DLS）， limb swing time， stride speed， stride length， stride length and leg lifting strength， leg swinging strength， ground pushing strength， and plantar flexion strength. The adverse reactions of the three groups during the treatment were counted.

Results

2

After treatment and at 16 weeks follow-up， the three groups showed improvements in single leg support time， double leg support time， SLS/DLS， stride speed， stride length， stride length and leg lifting strength， leg swinging strength， ground pushing strength， and plantar flex

ion strength compared to those before treatment （

P

<

0.05）. Compared with the acupuncture group and orthopedic formentation group， the acupuncture combined with orthopedic formentation group showed significant improvement in single leg support time， double leg support time， SLS/DLS， stride speed， stride length， stride length， leg lifting strength， leg swinging strength， ground pushing strength， and plantar bending strength after treatment and 16 weeks of follow-up （

P

<

0.05）， while the orthopedic formentation group showed no significant improvement （

P

>

0.05）. There were no adverse reactions such as needle fainting， needle stagnation， needle breakage， aggravated pain， severe needle allergy， scald or allergic reaction in the three groups. Throughout the experiment， 8 subjects experienced mild subcutaneous hematoma （3 cases in acupuncture group and 5 cases in combined treatment group）， which subsided spontaneously within a few hours.

Conclusion

2

Acupuncture combined with orthopedic drugs can significantly improve the gait stability of patients with cold-dampness obstruction syndrome of knee osteoarthritis， enhance the strength of various flexors and extensors， prolong the walking distance and increase the gait frequency， and the effect is better than acupuncture and orthopedic drugs alone.