In a review of available litterature on controlled research trials for acupuncture with arthritis, (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2810544/), a total of ten randomised, controlled trials met the selection criteria. In all cases pain management was a common theme with 8 of the trials reporting a successful outcome.
9 studies concluded that acupuncure was effective in pain management. The strongest results came in 4 trials which actually controlled for a placebo effect.
