Osteoarthritis of the knee is a major cause of disability among adults with conservative therapies being among the preferred first line of treatment. Acupuncture and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) are considered a potentially useful treatment for osteoarthritis, however there is dearth of information on the acceptability and efficacy of acupuncture in Nigeria. Objectives: The study was designed to compare the effects of acupuncture and ACUTENS among adult Nigerian with OA of

more »

... the knee joints. Methods: Thirty patients with knee OA were randomised into 2 intervention groups (i.e., acupuncture and ACUTENS) and a control (soft tissue manipulation) group. Patients in the acupuncture and ACUTENS group were also treated with soft tissue manipulation as the control group. Pain intensity, functional mobility and knee Active Range of Movement (AROM) were measured at pre-intervention, post intervention and 3 months post intervention. Results: Patients who received acupuncture showed statistically better improvement in the form higher mean changes ± Standard Error of Means (XΔ±SEM) in pain intensity score of 4.20±0.01 than the ACUTENS group who recorded changes in pain intensity scores of 30±0.30. The mean changes in the functional mobility scores of 10.60±3.35 and 4.30±1.12 were recorded for the patients in the Acupuncture and ACUTENS group respectively. Also, the mean changes in the Knee active range of movement for the patients in the acupuncture group was 15.5±5.18 while patients who received ACUTENS recorded a mean changes of 5.50±1.38. Acupuncture and ACUTENS treatment produced significant reduction in pain intensity level post intervention and at follow up assessments (P<0.05). Patients who received acupuncture treatment showed significant improvement in functional mobility and knee active range of motion which was not present in the ACUTENS and control groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: Acupuncture and ACUTENS treatment had significantly better pain relieving effects when compared to soft tissue manipulation in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Acupuncture treatment produce better outcome than ACUTENS in terms of pain reduction, knee range of movements and functional mobility in patients with OA of the knee.