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 (manual and electroacupuncture) compared with a non-penetrating sham for the symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee. Acupuncture in Medicine, June 2008.)
A multicentre, randomised controlled trial in Spain, has found that acupuncture in association with physiotherapy, is more beneficial for shoulder pain and function, than physiotherapy on its own. A total of 425 patients received fifteen sessions of physiotherapy over a three week period; additionally, some were randomised to receive either acupuncture, or mock TENS as a control. 
A randomised, controlled trial in Germany studying acupuncture for arthritic joints, and involving 3633 patients, has found it to be of significant benefit in controlling the pain of hip and knee osteoarthritis. Partly as a result of this trial, the German Ministry of Health is considering a recommendation from a committee of doctors, that acupuncture be available under medical insurance.