Electro-acupuncture for treatment of knee pain from osteoarthritis and the possible endocrinology changes: A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Osteoarthritis of the knee is a major cause of disability among adults. Electro-acupuncture is considered a potentially useful treatment for osteoarthritis. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of electro-acupuncture on pain control, pain perception, plasma cortisol and beta-endorphin levels, patient-perceived quality of life, and pain medication use in patients with chronic knee pain. Methods/design: This study is a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, parallel design trial. One hundred sixty out-patients who are more than 50 years old and who have osteoarthritis of the knee will be recruited from the island of Mallorca, Spain. Each participant will be randomly placed into one of two groups: (sham) electro-acupuncture non-insertion technique and real electro-acupuncture. Discussion: The findings from this study will help to determine whether electro-acupuncture is effective for chronic knee pain management in older people and whether electro-acupuncture can deliver results for the improvement of pain relief, stiffness, and disability. The study will therefore be a major step toward understanding the roles of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the endogenous opioid system in the effectiveness of electro-acupuncture for chronic pain. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02299713 (11 Nov. 2014).