Study design
KOA knee pain, WL, knee pain, KOA
In this trial, the patients experiencing knee pain due to KOA were observed for 4 weeks, of which the first 2 weeks of run‐in period checked whether KOA patients were eligible and still willing to participate. There were five patient groups and an HCs group, with 36 participants in each group. The patients were randomly assigned to verum acupuncture (VA), sham acupuncture (SA), celecoxib (SC), placebo (PB), and waiting list (WL) control groups. The celecoxib and placebo groups were masked (double‐blinded) to treatment, and the subjects of verum acupuncture and sham acupuncture were kept single‐blinded. Two MRI scans were done on KOA knee pain patients before and after treatments, whereas HCs received one scan.