• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.265-282
• /
• 2004

Objective : The aim of this study was to review systemically clinical trials on the effectiveness and safety of herbal medicines in the treatment of osteoarthritis. Methods : Computerized literature searches were carried out on seven electronic databases, and hand-searching on some chinese medical journals in library of Kyung Hee Medical Center. Trial data were extracted in a standardized, predefined manner and assessed independently. Results : 1. Thirty reports of clinical trials and two reports of meta-analyses concerning herbal medicine were collected and reviewed. Among these reports three medical herbs were applied as topical medicine and others as internal medicine. 2. The western studies established NSAIDs or placebo as their control group. Five chinese reports established formulated herb pill(Ruanshnagshenjin pill) as their control group and Six did not establish a control group at all. 3. ACR was the most highly used diagnostic criteria in the western studies while the Chinese used their official criteria established by their government or the criteria of their text books. 4. 20 reports chose the Lequesne functional index, SHAQ, WOMAC OA index, AIMS, and their own unique scoring system as the criteria of analysing the effect. Others chose clinical symptoms, articular functions, and lab finding as their criteria. 5. 7 single herbs and 19 formulated herbs were studied. Among the formulated herbs, Achyranthes japonica was studied in 10 of the studies and Angelica gigantis Radix in 8, making them the most often studied herbs among the studies.