Scraping therapy for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the efficacy of scraping therapy on knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

Methods: A computerized search was conducted in several databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, Wanfang, and Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, from the establishment date of these databases to April 9, 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on scraping therapy for KOA were collected in accordance with the "Participants-Intervention-Control-Outcome-Study design" criteria. The methodological evaluation of the included studies was carried out using RoB 2.0, and Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan. The Grades of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE System) was applied to grade the quality of evidence.

Results: A total of 12 RCTs with 997 subjects were included in the Meta-analysis. Results indicated that compared with the control group, the scraping therapy treatment group exhibited increased Lysholm scores [mean difference (MD) = 4.96, 95% confidence intervals (CI) (3.18, 6.74), P < 0.000 01] and Hospital for Special Surgery scores [MD= 8.35, 95% CI(3.92, 12.78), P =0.0002] and decreased visual analog scale scores [MD = -2.11, 95% CI(-3.79, -0.44), P =0.01] and Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index scores [MD= -6.77, 95% CI(-8.99, -4.56), P < 0.000 01)]. The quality of evidence obtained in this Meta-analysis was low according to the GRADE system.

Conclusion: The available evidence suggests that scraping therapy may have certain clinical efficacy in the treatment of KOA. However, further high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm the findings.