EVALUATION OF THE ANALGESIC EFFECT OF NAF TIDROFURYL IN PERMANENT ISCHEMIA - DOUBLE-BLIND PLACEBO-CONTROLLED

Ischaemic rest pain, with or without trophic disorders and occurring v ery frequently at night, is responsible for insomnia and complications such as positional oedema. The pathophysiological mechanisms underlyi ng the analgesic effect of naftidrofuryl led us to evaluate the effica cy of this treatment. 37 selected patients were given 2 daily infusion s of 400 mg of naftidrofuryl for 8 days, under double-blind conditions . Evaluation criteria were pain assessment using a visual analogue sca le, analgesic consumption considering both the power (WHO scale: level I paracetamol, level II dextropropoxyphene, level III morphine) and t he dosage of the anal-gesic used (analgesic score), index of therapeut ic success including the level of pain reduction and the absence of an algesic use. The results showed a significant difference in favour of naftidrofuryl for: reduction of pain, difference in the course of the analgesic score, the distribution of the population according to the i ndex of therapeutic success. Three patients discontinued treatment due to inefficacy, but all 3 belonged to the placebo group. This study de monstrates the benefit of naftidrofuryl in pain reduction which was as sessed, in particular, by the reduction of analgesic consumption.