Harpagophytum procumbens in the treatment of knee and hip osteoarthritis. Four-month results of a prospective, multicenter, double-blind trial versusdiacerhein

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Harpagophytum in the trea tment of hip and knee osteoarthritis comparatively with the slow-acting dru g for osteoarthritis, diacerhein. Patients and methods. A multicenter, rand omized, double-blind, parallel-group study was conducted in 122 patients wi th hip and/or knee osteoarthritis. Treatment du ration was four months and the primary evaluation criterion was the pain score on a visual analog scal e. Harpagophytum 2,610 mg per day was compared with diacerhein 100 mg per d ay. Results. After four months, considerable improvements in osteoarthritis symptoms were seen in both groups, with no significant differences for pai n, functional disability, or the Lequesne score. However, use of analgesic (acetaminophen-caffeine) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (diclofenac) me dications was significantly reduced in the Harpagophytum group, which also had a significantly lower rate of adverse events. Conclusion, In this study , Harpagophytum was at least as effective as a reference drug (diacerhein) in the treatment of knee or hip osteoarthritis and reduced the need for ana lgesic and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory therapy. (C) 2000 Editions scient ifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.