P. Lokken et al., EFFECT OF HOMEOPATHY ON PAIN AND OTHER EVENTS AFTER ACUTE TRAUMA - PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL WITH BILATERAL ORAL-SURGERY, BMJ. British medical journal, 310(6992), 1995, pp. 1439-1442
Objective-To examine whether homoeopathy has any effect on pain and ot
her inflammatory events after surgery. Design-Randomised double blind,
placebo controlled crossover trial with ''identical'' oral surgical p
rocedures performed on two separate occasions in 24 patients. Interven
tions-Treatment started 3 hours after surgery with either homoeopathy
or placebo. Main outcome measures-Postoperative pain and preference fo
r postoperative course assessed by patients on visual analogue scales.
Measurements of postoperative swelling and reduction in ability to op
en mouth. Assessment of bleeding after surgery. Results-Pain after sur
gery was essentially the same whether treated with homoeopathy or plac
ebo. Postoperative swelling was not significantly affected by homoeopa
thy, but treatment tended to give less reduction in ability to open mo
uth. No noticeable difference was seen in postoperative bleeding, side
effects, or complaints. Thirteen of the 24 patients preferred the pos
toperative course with placebo. Conclusions-No positive evidence was f
ound for efficacy of homoeopathic treatment on pain and other inflamma
tory events after an acute soft tissue and bone injury inflicted by a
surgical intervention. Differences in the order of 30% to 40% would ha
ve been needed to show significant effects.