The efficacy and safety of medical leech therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Meta-analysis published in Int J Surg (2018)
Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is controversial on whether medical leech therapy is effective in improving pain and functional outcome in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Therefore, we perform a meta-analysis from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of medical leech therapy in patients with knee OA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The PubMed, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched for literature up to January 2018. RCTs involving medical leech therapy in patients with knee OA were included. Two independent reviewers performed independent data abstraction. The I2 statistic was used to assess heterogeneity. A fixed or random effects model was adopted for meta-analysis. All meta-analyses were performed by using STATA 12.0. RESULTS: Four RCTs with 264 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The current meta-analysis showed that there were significant differences in terms of visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and WOMAC scores at 1 week, 4weeks and 7 weeks compared with control groups. However, leech therapy was associated with a significantly higher incidence of adverse events. The overall evidence quality is moderate, which means that further research is likely to significantly change confidence in the effect estimate but may change the estimate. CONCLUSION: Medical leech therapy was associated with a significantly improved outcome in pain relief and functional recovery in patients with symptomatic knee OA. However, given the inherent limitations in the included studies, this conclusion should be interpreted cautiously.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Резюме
Meta-analysis of 4 RCTs (264 patients) showing significant improvements in VAS and WOMAC scores at 1, 4 and 7 weeks with leech therapy in knee OA, with higher adverse event incidence.
Почему это важно для гирудотерапии
В данном метаанализе объединены четыре рандомизированных контролируемых исследования (264 пациента), оценивавших медицинскую гирудотерапию при остеоартрозе коленного сустава; сообщается о значимых улучшениях по шкалам VAS и WOMAC через 1, 4 и 7 недель по сравнению с контролем, а также о значимо более высокой частоте нежелательных явлений при терапии пиявками; общее качество доказательств оценено как умеренное. Для ASH исследование имеет прямую релевантность как систематический синтез доказательств клинических испытаний гирудотерапии при распространённом болезненном заболевании опорно-двигательного аппарата. Честная оговорка: анализ базируется лишь на четырёх РКИ с доказательствами умеренного качества и присущими ограничениями исследований, а более высокая частота нежелательных явлений требует осторожности; сами авторы рекомендуют интерпретировать выводы с осторожностью.
Цитирование
The efficacy and safety of medical leech therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Wang H et al. · International journal of surgery, 2018
Связанный клинический контекст
Узнайте, как это исследование связано с клинической практикой
Добавлено в библиотеку ASH: May 27, 2026 · Последнее обновление сайта: 18 июня 2026 г.