Table 4.

Herbal patch for OA of the knee.

Author/Year Country/Design	Participants	Intervention	Outcome assessment	Results	The risk of bias
Wang X et al13 2012, China (RCT) (Patient-blind) (Assessor-blind) (Care giver-Blind)	N = 150 Inclusion criteria: (1)Age between 40-70 years, (2)Diagnosed by the criteria of Chinese Orthopaedic Association and TCM syndrome (3)evidence of idiopathic OA, (4)Pain over 20/100 mm VAS	FNZG (N = 60) Extraction mainly from Rhizoma Arisaematis, Radix Aconiti, Flos Caryophylli and nine herbs. SJG (N = 60) Extraction mainly from Rhizoma Arisaematis, Radix Aconiti, and fifteen herbs. Placebo patch (N = 30) Acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive tape All patches had the same size of 10 cm × 13 cm and were matched with each other for taste, color, and package.	•Pain: VAS(100-mm) •Function: WOMAC •Others: TCM Syndrome Questionnaire	•All three groups improved with respect to a decrease from baseline to day 1 and day 7 in the VAS score, the greatest in FNZG and the smallest in SJG group at day 7. •Improvements from baseline to day 7 in the 3 WOMAC domains and total score were seen in three groups, the greatest in SJG without significant differences. •FNZG group had a significantly greater decrease in the item of fear of coldness as assessed by TCMSQ than that in placebo group but SJG group did not reach a significant reduction.	10/12 (High)