CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
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Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 5:45-6:30 PM
Lee H, Lee JY, Kim YJ, Lee H, Yin C, Kim KM, Kil JH,
Kwon K, Lim S, Park HJ.
Acupuncture for rheumatoid arthritis; a pilot, randomised,
waiting list controlled trial.
KyungHee Univerisity acufind@khu.ac.kr
PURPOSE: Although acupuncture is commonly used
in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there exist few well-designed
studies of acupuncture for RA. We tested whether individualized acupuncture
treatment focusing on Ônourishing water and diminishing fire' could
alleviate symptoms of RA.
METHODS: Patients were eligible if they met
the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria, were aged 18 to
70 years, had RA for at least one year and their drugs and dosages had
been stable at least a month. Patients were randomly allocated in a
2:1 ratio either to receive 14 sessions of acupuncture treatment for
6 weeks (n=25) or to wait and then receive 6 sessions of weekly acupuncture
treatment (n=13). Acupuncture treatment was given by an experienced
Korean Medicine Doctor three times a week for the fist two weeks followed
by twice a week treatment for a month. The acupuncture prescription
was based on the principle of Ônourishing water and diminishing fire'
and the treatment was basically given contralaterally to the most affected
side. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with an ACR20
response at 6 weeks. The secondary endpoints included changes in disease
activity score 28 (DAS 28), tender joint count, swollen joint count,
morning stiffness, SF-36 and Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire
(KHAQ). Outcome assessor was blinded and adverse events were monitored.
RESULTS: The baseline characteristics were not
significantly different between groups. Fourteen sessions of acupuncture
group had significantly more ACR20 responders than control and 6 sessions
groups (44% vs. 0% vs. 31%, p=0.014). DAS28 score change was significantly
greater after 14 sessions of acupuncture compared with that in waiting
list group (p<0.05). Compared with waiting list group, 14 sessions of
acupuncture had significant benefit in swollen joint count (p<0.005),
morning stiffness (p<0.05) and KHAQ scores (p=0.026). Fourteen sessions
of acupuncture treatment produced significant improvement in swollen
joint count compared with 6 sessions of acupuncture treatment (p<0.005).
No major acupuncture related adverse events were reported.
CONCLUSIONS: Individualized acupuncture treatment
focusing on Ônourishing water and diminishing fire' produced significant
clinical and functional benefits in patients with RA, 14 sessions having
better improvement than 6 sessions. Larger scale and placebo-controlled
trials adopting this regimen are warranted.
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