Effectiveness of integrating acupuncture with glucosamine for pain management in elderly patients with osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic joint disease that seriously affects the elderly's quality of life. The goal was to analyse the comparative effectiveness of combining acupuncture and glucosamine in the treatment of pain in elderly patients with OA. 98 elderly OA patients admitted to our hospital from September 2021 to September 2024 were divided into the control group (administered with aminoglucose hydrochloride tablets, n=49) and study group (addition of acupuncture to the control group, n=49). The clinical efficacy, Traditional Chinese Medicine scores (TCMs), pain visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, Articular Rehabilitation of the Osteoarticular Mobility (AROM) scores, Joint Orthopaedic Association Treatment (JOA) scores, inflammatory indicators, quality of life scores and adverse events incidence were compared in both groups. Post-treatment, all indicators of both groups were superior to pre-treatment (P<0.05). The clinical efficacy, AROM scores, HSS scores, JOA scores and quality of life scores in study group were remarkably larger to control group, and TCMs, VAS scores and inflammatory indicators in study group were lower than control group (P<0.05). In addition, no remarkable discrepancies were found among both groups with adverse events incidence (P>0.05). The method is effective in relieving pain and improving inflammation, and has greater clinical value.