BENZOXONIUM CHLORIDE AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO ANTIBIOTICS IN ACUTE NONSPECIFIC SORE THROAT - SINGLE-BLIND, COMPARATIVE, RANDOMIZED CLINICAL-TRIAL, VERSUS ROXITHROMYCIN

118 patients suffering from acute non-specific pharyngitis were includ ed in a clinical trail in order to verify the hypothesis that a buccal quaternary ammonium salt antiseptic, benzoxonium chloride, can effica ciously and safely replace antibiotic therapy in this indication. Of t he 118 patients included, 107 (aged between 16 and 68 years) were eval uated for efficacy: 53 took benzoxonium, and 54 roxithromycin. The res ults show little difference between the two treatment groups. Both pro ducts were efficacious: sore throat disappeared in 81% of benzoxonium and 77% of roxithromycin patients (difference not significant). Global evaluation by patients was better in the benzoxonium group (p = 0.025 ). Tolerability was evaluated in 114 patients (58 benzoxonium and 56 r oxithromycin): 4 adverse events were reported in the benzoxonium group , and 16 adverse events, mostly gastro-intestinal, in the roxithromyci n group. This difference is statistically significant (p = 0.002). In acute non-specific pharyngitis, benzoxonium seems to be an interesting alternative to routine antibiotic therapy, which is more expensive an d often not very well tolerated.