Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture combined with functional exercise and external application of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.Methods A total of100 patients with knee osteoarthritis treated in a hospital in Chongqing from January 2018 to January 2020 were randomly divided into observation group and control group

with 50 cases in each group.The patients in the control group were treated with electroacupuncture combined with knee joint functional exercise

and the patients in the observation group were treated with local external application of traditional Chinese medicine on the basis of the control group.Before and after treatment

the WOMAC scores and LKSS score and Lequesne index

knee joint range of motion and clinical efficacy of the two groups were compared.Results Before treatment

there was no significant difference in the WOMAC scores of each symptoms and total scores between the two groups（P>0.05）.After treatment

the scores of WOMAC knee joint pain

stiffness and knee joint function and total scores in the two groups were lower than those before treatment

and those in the observation group were lower than those in the control group

and the differences were statistically significant（P<0.05）.Before treatment

there was no significant difference in the range of motion of knee joint between the two groups（P>0.05）.After treatment

the range of motion of knee joint in the two groups was larger than that before treatment

and that in the observation group was larger than that in the control group

and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）.Before treatment

there was no significant difference in LKSS score and Lequesne index between the two groups（P>0.05）.After treatment

the LKSS score of knee joint in the two groups was higher than that before treatment

and that in the observation group was higher than that in the control group

while the Lequesne index in the observation group was lower than that in the control group

and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）.The total effective rate of the observation group was 96.00%

which was higher than that of the control group（82.00%）

and the difference was statistically significant（P <0.05）.Conclusion Electroacupuncture combined with functional exercise and external application of traditional Chinese medicine can significantly relieve local pain and improve knee joint function in patients with KOA.