Effect Of Acupuncture At The Nodule Point On The Characteristics Of Infrared Thermal Imaging In Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis

Purpose:By comparing the difference of infrared temperature of muscle meridian lesion between healthy side and diseased side of the knee osteoarthritis patients, as well as the difference of the VAS and WOMAC scores before and after acupuncture treatment. To observe the effect of acupuncture at Muscle meridian lesion on the characteristics of infrared thermal imaging in patients with knee osteoarthritis, to contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.Material and method : There were 40 cases of patients with knee osteoarthritis according with the criteria of diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis. Infrared thermal images of the front, back and side of the lower limbs of 40 patients with KOA were taken by ATIR-M301 uncooled medical infrared thermal imager, then recording the the both side infrared temperature of lower patella 、 medial tibial condyle 、 inner-lower patella 、 sub-ST36 、upper-SP9 、 sub-BL39 、 lateral BL57. The new Xinglin card neddles which model is0.35×40mm were adopted to above Muscle meridian lesions to the diseased side, with lifting thrusting and twirling manipulation to make the patients feeling soreness, distension,numbness. Retain the needles for 30 minutes, once a day, 6 days apart 1 day, 24 days of treatment was a course, there was no intervention measures to the healthy side. 1 day after the end of treatment, collecting the infrared image of the front, back and side of the lower limbs,and recording the both side infrared temperature of lower patella、medial tibial condyle、inner-lower patella、sub-ST36、upper-SP9、sub-BL39、lateral BL57. Paired t-test was adopted to analysis the difference of infrared temperature between the healthy side and the diseased side of the patients before and after acupuncture, and analysis the changes of the VAS and WOMAC scores before and after acupuncture, to observe the effect of acupuncture at Muscle meridian lesion on the characteristics of infrared thermal imaging in patients with knee osteoarthritis.Results:1.After acupuncture treatment, there was a statistically significant difference in the vas score compared with that before treatment(P<0.05).2.After acupuncture treatment, there was a statistically significant difference in the scores of WOMAC pain, stiffness, the recent daily functional activity score and total score compared with before treatment(P<0.05).3.Before acupuncture treatment, the infrared temperature of the affected side was significantly higher than that of the healthy side, there was a significant difference in the infrared temperature of lower patella 、 medial tibial condyle 、 inner-lower patella 、 sub-ST36 、upper-SP9、sub-BL39 compared with before treaatment(P<0.01). However there was no significant difference in infrared temperature of lateral BL57(P>0.05).4.After acupuncture treatment, there were no significant differences in the infrared temperature of lower patella、medial tibial condyle, inner-lower patella, sub-ST36, upper-SP9,sub-BL39, lateral BL57 between the affected side and the healthy side(P>0.05).5.In the disesed side, the infrared temperature was decreased significantly, there was a significant differences in the infrared temperature of lower patella、medial tibial condyle、inner-lower patella、sub-ST36、upper-SP9、sub-BL39 btween before and after treatment(P<0.01). However there was no significant difference in infrared temperature of lateral BL57(P>0.05).Conclusion:1.Acupuncture can reduce infrared temperature of the osteoarthritis patients muscle meridian lesion around knee.2.It is proved that the needle had a effect of relieving pain, stiffness and other symptoms of knee osteoarthritis.3.It is suggested that the knee osteoarthritis can be diagnosed by the infrared temperature of muscle meridian lesion, and the therapeutic effect of acupuncture can be evaluated.