Skip to main content

Table 1 Details of each group

From: Electroacupuncture inhibits chronification of the acute pain of knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Group

Acupoints

Stimulation parameters

Strong EA group

Neixiyan

Direct current, continuous wave, at 2 Hz frequency and with 0.5 ms pulse width for 30 minutes. Maximum tolerable intensity of current will be delivered, 2 mA < current < 5 mA. EX-LE5 will be connected to ST35 and SP10 will be connected to ST34 with a pair of electrodes.

(EX-LE5)

Dubi (ST35)

Liangqiu (ST34)

Xuehai (SP10)

Weak EA group

Neixiyan

Stimulation indexes and acupoint’ connections are the same as in the strong EA group, but the patients will just feel the sensations of current, 0 mA < current <0.5 mA.

(EX-LE5)

Dubi (ST35)

Liangqiu (ST34)

Xuehai (SP10)

Sham EA group

The sites are 2 cm lateral to the above

Fine needles will be inserted superficially into the sites 2 cm lateral to the above four points with low-intensity current as same as in the weak EA group.

four points

  1. Note: EA, electroacupuncture.