To obtain meaningful results in any clinical trial, patients need to be all
ocated to treatments in such a way that valid analysis can be carried out.
Balancing treatment groups before analysis is carried out is more desirable
than trying to compensate for incomparability at a later date. Therefore,
the development of allocation procedures to produce comparable groups in wh
ich prognostic factors are equally represented is important. Minimization,
a deterministic allocation method, aims to ensure balance on such factors,
particularly in small trials when traditional randomization methods are lik
ely to fail. However, views on the use of conventional analysis following m
inimization are divided. The use of minimization in two randomised crossove
r trials is described where, in addition to the comparisons between randomi
sed treatments, it was desired to have balance between groups based on diff
erential trial procedures. Theoretical concerns about the use of minimizati
on are not applicable in this setting, and therefore minimization is shown
to be a useful technique for obtaining balance.