Therapeutic effects of low-frequency phonophoresis with a Chinese herbal medicine versus sodium diclofenac for treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of low-frequency phonophoresis with a Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) compared with sodium diclofenac (SD) for knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

Methods: In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 100 KOA patients were assigned randomly to a placebo group, a CHM group, or SD group. Low-frequency phonophoresis was used to improve the efficiency of drug delivery. Pain at rest [using a visual analog scale (VAS)], pain on movement (VAS), and range of motion (degrees) in the three groups were evaluated using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMACAI) scores. Safety assessments comprised emergency adverse events, as well as laboratory tests of blood biochemistry, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase.

Results: Significant improvements were found after treatment in all outcome measures except stiffness and range of motion in patients in the CHMP group and SDP group (P < 0.05). No significant differences in all outcome measures were found between the CHMP group and SDP group.

Conclusion: CHMP and SDP can show good therapeutic effects for KOA in terms of relieving pain and improving physical function.