Acupuncture Therapy plus Hyaluronic Acid Injection for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 1

Features of the included studies.

First author (year)	Sample size	Sex (M : F)	Age (year) (mean ± SD)	Duration (mean ± SD)(or range)	Intervention (combination therapy)	Control group (HA alone)	Outcome measures	Follow-up
Chen Y. (2015)	116	T: 26 : 32 C: 28 : 30	T: 56.1 ± 4.8; C: 55.0 ± 4.6	T: 3.7 ± 2.0 y; C: 3.9 ± 2.1 y	AT + HA 1 time per week (4 weeks)	2 ml 1 time per week (4 weeks)	LKSS, VAS, ER	1 year
Gao Y. (2017)	80	T: 30 : 10; C: 28 : 12	T: 59.2 ± 3.3; C: 60.5 ± 3.9	T: 6.5 ± 0.5 y; C: 6.9 ± 0.9 y	WA + HA 1 time per day (15 min, 5 weeks)	2.5 ml 1 time per week (5 weeks)	WOMAC, QOL, VAS, LKSS	5 weeks
Han D. (2016)	128	T: 34 : 3; C: 28 : 36	T:62.4 ± 6.8; C:63.0 ± 6.5	T: 5.83 ± 0.4 y; C: 6.02 ± 0.2 y	WA + HA 3 times per week (30 min, 4 weeks)	2 ml 1 time per week (4 weeks)	LKSS, ER	4 weeks
Hao Y. F. (2017)	80	T: 17 : 23; C: 19 : 21	T: 55.91 ± 6.32; C: 56.32 ± 5.92	T: 52.32 ± 46.5 d; C: 53.67 ± 45.8 d	MA + HA 1 time per day (30 min, 5 weeks)	2 ml 1 time per week (5 weeks)	VAS, SF-36, ER, WOMAC	5 weeks
He H. J. (2016)	108	T: 12 : 44; C: 10 : 42	T:50.32 ± 14.38; C:54.05 ± 14.07	T: 4 m–10 y; C: 3 m–9 y	AT + HA 1 time per week (2 weeks)	3 ml 1 time per week (5 weeks)	HSS, VAS	3 months
Lv L. (2017)	66	I: 16 : 17; C: 18 : 15	I: 44.10 ± 0.18; C: 44.11 ± 0.15	NM	MA + HA 5 times per week (30 min, 4 weeks)	2 ml 1 time per week (4 weeks)	ER, VAS, HSS	1 month
Ren J. (2012)	100	I: 24 : 26; C: 22 : 28	NM	NM	WA + HA 3 times per week (4 weeks)	2 ml 1 time per week (4 weeks)	VAS, LKSS, ER	1 month
Ren X. G. (2015)	60	T: 11 : 19; C: 13 : 17	T: 63.8 ± 9.8; C: 64.1 ± 10.9	T: 3.4 ± 1.4 y; C: 3.2 ± 1.4 y	AT + HA 1 time every 2 weeks (4 weeks)	2 ml 1 time per week (4 weeks)	LKSS, ER	6 months
Tian H. J. (2018)	140	T: 34 : 36; C: 32 : 38	T: 59.5 ± 17.5; C: 61.5 ± 20.5	NM	WA + HA NM	2 ml 1 time per week (4 weeks)	LKSS, QOL	1 month
Zhao Z. C. (2018)	120	T: 35 : 25; C: 33 : 27	T: 62.06 ± 4.37; C: 61.23 ± 4.25	T: 6.50 ± 3.04 y; C: 6.38 ± 3.14 y	MA + AT + HA 7 times per week (30 min, 4 weeks)	2 ml 1 time per week (4 weeks)	LKSS, VAS, JOA, ER	6 months

AT: acupotomy; WA: warm acupuncture; MA: manual acupuncture; NM: not mentioned; LKSS: Lysholm scores; VAS: visual analogue scale; ER: clinical efficacy rate; SF-36: Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey; WOMAC: The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index; QOL: the scales of quality of life; JOA: the scales of Japanese Orthopedics Association; HSS: hospital for special surgery.