A blind, randomised, controlled trial has studied the effects of real compared to sham acupuncture, for osteoarthritis of the knee. Sixty-eight patients with symptoms supported by X-ray evidence of osteoarthritis, were randomly allocated to receive either acupuncture, or non-penetrating sham acupuncture (in which the patients were lead to believe they had received real acupuncture).
The acupuncture group experienced a significantly greater improvement in the knee, including a significant improvement in pain, which was not seen in the sham group.
(A Blinded Randomised Trial of Acupuncture compared with a Non-Penetrating Sham for the Symptoms of Osteoarthritis of the Knee. Acupuncture in Medicine 2008 June)