Abstract

CONTEXT:

The incidence of tendon injuries and tendinopathy has risen substantially in the past decades.

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the noninferiority of therapy based on the homeopathic preparation Traumeel S ointment (Heel GmbH, Baden-Baden, Germany) compared with treatment based on diclofenac 1% gel in patients with tendinopathies of varying etiology.

DESIGN:

Nonrandomized, observational study.

SETTING:

Ninety-five homeopathy and conventional medical practices in Germany.

PATIENTS:

Three hundred fifty-seven patients aged 18 to 93 years with tendinopathy of varying etiology based on excessive tendon load rather than inflammation.

INTERVENTIONS:

Traumeel S ointment or diclofenac 1% gel for a maximum of 28 days.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

Efficacy was measured on a four-degree scale on pain-related variables, on variables related to motility, and on overall treatment outcome. Tolerability was monitored as adverse events. Compliance was assessed by practitioner and patient on a four-degree scale.

RESULTS:

The patients groups were comparable at baseline. The changes in summary score of all pain-related variables were -5.3 +/- 2.7 (all values means +/- SD) in the Traumeel group and -5.0 +/- 2.7 in the control group. Changes for all motility-related variables were -4.2 +/- 3.8 with Traumeel and -3.7 +/- 3.4 with control therapy. The summary scores for all clinical variables were reduced by -9.5 +/- 5.7 with Traumeel therapy and by -8.7 +/- 5.4 with diclofenac-based treatment. Homeopathic therapy was noninferior to diclofenac therapy on all variables. For motility-related variables, there was a trend toward superiority of Traumeel. Treatments were well tolerated with no treatment-related adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results suggest that Traumeel ointment is an effective alternative to nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs therapy for the acute symptomatic treatment of patients with tendinopathy.