Acupuncture vs Sham Acupuncture for Hand Osteoarthritis
Trial Parameters
Brief Summary
The investigators plan to conduct this multicentered, sham-controlled randomized clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for clinical symptomatic improvement of hand OA.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Diagnosed as hand OA according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) clinical classification criteria * History of hand OA for at least 3 months before enrollment and history of taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat hand OA * Aged 18-80 years * At least 40 mm in visual analog scale (VAS) on the average pain intensity of the dominant hand over the last 48 hours (patients applying NSAIDs at the screening have to have an increase in pain in the dominant hand of ≥ 20 mm after 1-week washout) * Posterior-anterior radiographs of the dominant hand shows Kellgren-Lawrence grade 1, 2, or 3 changes in symptomatic joints * Negative results in both rheumatoid factor and anticyclonic citrullinated peptide * Able to comply with the study protocol and understand the medical information forms * Voluntarily sign the informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * History or current evidence of secondary OA (due to causes other than a solely degenerative join