To compare the instant，short and long-term effects of pure knee joint cavity injection of sodium hyaluronate and the combination of knee joint local acupoint catgut embedding and the sodium hyaluronate injection，and to explore a better method of treatment.Methods:One hundred and twenty patients with 164 knee osteoarthritis treated in our hospital from January 2009 to December 2012 were randomly divided into treatment group and control group.In the treatment group，there were 60 patients with 86 knees to be treated，and the knee joints were treated wtih local point catgut embedding and the sodium hyaluronate injection.In the control group，there were 60 patients with 78 knees to be cured，and the knee joints were treated with pure sodium hyaluronate injection.According to the HSS score before the treatment，5 weeks，3 months and half a year after treatment，the instant，short and long-term effects were evaluated.Results:Five weeks after treatment，the effective rate in treatment group was 60% and that of the control group was 53.3%，and there was no statistically significant difference.Three months after treatment，the effective rate in treatment and control group were respectively 70% and 45%，and there was statistically significant difference.Half a year after the treatment，the effective rates of treatment group and control group were respectively 76.7 % and 35%，and the difference was statistically significant.Conclusion:Both the pure injection of sodium hyaluronate and the combination of local acupoint catgut embedding and the sodium hyaluronate injection have certain effects on the osteoarthritis of the knees.The instant effects are no significantly different，but in the short and long term，the effect of the acupoint catgut embedding therapy combined with sodium hyaluronate injected into articular cavity shows better effectiveness than the simple intro-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate.