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THE HOMEOPATHIC PREPARATION TRAUMEEL ® S COMPARED WITH NSAIDS FOR SYMPTOMATIC TREATMENT OF EPICONDYLITIS

2004; World Scientific; Volume: 08; Issue: 02n03 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1142/s0218957704001284

1793-6497

Heinz Birnesser, Menachem Oberbaum, Peter Klein, Michael Weiser,

Veterinary Equine Medical Research

Objective: To compare the homeopathic remedy Traumeel ® S with standard NSAID therapy for effects on symptomatic relief in patients with diagnosed epicondylitis. Methods: An observational, non-randomized study over 2 weeks in 184 patients with diagnosed epicondylitis from 38 primary care centers in Germany. At the start of the study, patients were given initial injections of either Traumeel ® S or NSAID (unspecified; mainly diclofenac). Traumeel ® S patients might have other Traumeel ® S injections and other treatments were allowed, e.g. oral analgesics (in the NSAID group only) or physiotherapy. Treatments were evaluated on clinically relevant variables: three pain variables (local pressure pain, pain with movements, pain at rest) and two mobility variables (change in extensional joint mobility and change in torsional joint mobility). Results: Both treatments significantly improved scores on all five variables with no significant differences in time to onset of action. Traumeel ® S was equivalent to NSAIDs on all evaluated variables and was significantly superior to NSAID therapy on the variables pain at rest (p<0.01), torsional joint mobility (p<0.01), and extensional joint mobility (p<0.05). Patients' verdicts on the global outcome reflected the results, with the terms "very good" or "good", given by 71.0% of patients in the Traumeel ® S group versus 44.2% of patients receiving NSAIDs. Tolerability was good in all groups. Conclusion: Traumeel ® S represents an appealing and well-tolerated alternative to NSAIDs for symptomatic treatment of epicondylitis.