Progress on Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthntis (OA) is a chronic degenerative disease of the joints caused by wide variety of factors. This paper provides a review of the clinical and experimental research on integrated Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of osteoarthritis. (1) Clinical research: integrated Chinese and Western medicine therapies were used including physiotherapy, medications, acupuncture, functional training, intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate therapy, and arthroscopic debridement with Chinese medicine iontophoresis therapy. (2) Experimental research: modern methods were used in studying the mechanism of Chinese medicine in slowing down cartilage degeneration, promoting articular cartilage repair, inhibiting synovial inflammation, and blocking cartilage destruction. In addition, this article also reviews the advantages, prospects, and problems of the therapies.