Objective To observe the clinical effect of herbal decoction Sishen Jian on acute osteoarthritis of knee joint.Methods The 60 osteoarthritis cases in the attack stage were randomized into treatment group（30 cases）and control group（30 cases）.The treatment group was given the decoction Sishen Jian and Diclofenac Sodium Sustained Release Capsules and the control group was given the capsules only.Two weeks made one course of treatment.Before and after treatment

the symptoms such as pain and morning stiff- ness

the signs including joint swelling and tenderness

and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate（ESR）and C reactive protein were ob- served for comparison.Results The total effective rate of the treatment group and control group was 96.66% and 53.26% respec- tively.The difference of two groups was significant（P<0.05）.In terms of relieving pain

morning stiffness

joint swelling and ten- derness

and decreasing the level of CRP

the effect of treatment group was superior to that of the control group.Conclusion The herbal decoction Sishen Jian is effective for acute osteoarthritis of knee joint.