Abstract: BACKGROUND: The degree of pain after total knee arthroplasty has reached moderate and severe. Electroacupuncture as an effective measure for the treatment of pain after total knee arthroplasty has been widely used in clinic.  
OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of electroacupuncture on pain after total knee arthroplasty in patients with knee osteoarthritis based on crossing acupoints of the same name of hands and feet.
METHODS:  In a randomized controlled design, 82 patients with knee osteoarthritis scheduled for unilateral total knee arthroplasty were randomly divided into control group (n=41) and treatment group (n=41). The control group was given the routine postoperative analgesia program, and the treatment group was treated with electroacupuncture combined with the method of crossing acupoints of the same name of hands and feet on the routine analgesia scheme. The intervention time was from the first day to the fifth day after operation. The tenderness threshold, visual analogue scale score, pressing times of patient-controlled analgesia pump, additional use of analgesics, Hospital for special surgery score of knee joint, hospital anxiety and depression scale score, and adverse events were recorded and evaluated. The clinical trial was approved by the Ethics Committee of Guanghua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine on May 5, 2020. Ethics approval number: 2020-k-40. The trial participants had informed consent to the trial scheme and process, and signed an informed consent form for the clinical trial.  
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) After 3 and 5 days of treatment, the tenderness threshold of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). (2) After 3 and 5 days of treatment, the visual analogue scale score of the treatment group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). (3) After 48 hours of treatment, the number of pressing times of patient-controlled analgesia pump in the treatment group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). (4) After 5 days of treatment, the dose of extra analgesics in the treatment group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). (5) After 3 and 5 days of treatment, the Hospital for special surgery score of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). (6) After 3 and 5 days of treatment, the hospital anxiety and depression scale score of the treatment group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). (7) After 5 days of treatment, there was no significant difference in adverse events and abnormal acupuncture between the two groups (P > 0.05). (8) It is concluded that electroacupuncture combined with the method of crossing acupoints of the same name of hands and feet can reduce the pain after total knee arthroplasty in patients with knee osteoarthritis, promote the rehabilitation of knee joint function and reduce the use of analgesics, which is safe and effective.

Key words: knee joint, osteoarthritis, total knee arthroplasty, pain, electroacupuncture, homonymous meridian