Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2002; 7: 91–2
This study evaluated the effectiveness of the willow bark extract Assalix in the treatment of low back pain.
We enrolled 210 patients suffering from exacerbations of chronic low back pain. In a randomised, double-blind study over 4 weeks, they received Assalix with either 120 mg (low dose) or 240 mg (high dose) salicin or placebo, with tramadol as the sole rescue medication. The principal outcome measure was the number of patients who were pain free without tramadol for 5 days out of the last week of treatment.
The treatment and placebo groups were well matched at baseline in 114 of 120 clinical features. A total of 191 patients completed the study. The numbers of pain-free patients in the last week of treatment were 27 in the group receiving high-dose extract, 15 in the group receiving low-dose extract and four in the placebo group (P < 0.001, Cochrane–Armitage test, intention-to-treat analysis). Neither radiation into the leg(s), nor the duration of the propensity to low back pain nor the duration of the exacerbation affected the response. A significant response in the high dose willow bark extract group was evident after only 1 week of treatment. For each week of the study, significantly more placebo patients required tramadol (P < 0.001). There was no evidence of side-effects related to willow bark, although one patient suffered a severe allergic reaction, possibly to the extract.
Willow bark extract may be a useful and safe treatment for low back pain.
