KOA (Knee osteoarthritis) is a major healthcare burden. A systematic review and meta-analysis depicted that for KOA patients, acupotomy is a safe and effective treatment.

This study aimed to assess the safety and clinical efficacy of acupotomy for the management of KOA.

In PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database and Wanfang Database, extensive literature searches were carried out. All databases were retrieved from their inception until 31 May 2017. 

Randomized controlled studies incorporating acupotomy versus intra-articular sodium hyaluronate for KOA were incorporated. Based on Cochrane Reviews' Handbook, two reviewers conducted screening of each article and retrieved data independently and were blinded to the findings of each reviewer. Using Cochrane Collaboration's RevMan 5.3 software, the meta-analysis was performed.

A total of 12 studies involving 1150 patients (aged between 40-78 years) were identified. The pooled analysis demonstrated that acupotomy showed considerable improvement for short-term effect [total effective rate, pain score, WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Questionnaire) score] Substantial improvement for long-term effect [total effective rate, pain score, WOMAC score] was also witnessed.

Furthermore, no significant difference was witnessed between the acupotomy group and the control group in adverse events. However, due to the methodological deficiency of the included studies, there is a requisition of well-designed randomized clinical trials to further authenticate these findings.

Clinicians may use acupotomy to treat KOA patients as it is safe and effective.