TREATMENT OF ACUTE LUMBAGO

Objective: To determine whether concomitant use of vitamins B1, B6, B12 along with low dose of diclofenac sodium causesquicker pain relief in patients of acute lumbago compared with diclofenac sodium alone. Design: A randomized clinical trial. Setting: SurgicalDepartment of C M H Attock. Period: From September 2004 to August 2005 Patients & Methods: A total of 50 patients were selected forthe study. The patients complaints were of acute lumbago of less than 3 days duration with severe impairments of movements. The age groupof patients was between 20 and 65 years. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups. Group I was prescribed tablet diclofenacsodium 25mg along with vitamin B-complex containing combination of 100mg thiamine nitrate (B1), 100mg pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), and200mcg cyanocobalmine (B12) three times a day. Group II patients were prescribed 25mg of tablet diclofenac sodium alone. Improvement inthe intensity of pain at rest and during movements (as assessed by the patients) was noted in accordance to visual analogue scale 1 to 10.The effectiveness of diclofenac sodium in combination with vitamin-B complex with diclofenac sodium alone was judged on the basis of extentof pain relief after 7 days of treatment. Results: A total of 25 patients were treated with combination of diclofenac sodium & vitamin-B complex(Group I) and 25 were treated with diclofenac sodium alone (Group II). As far as the extent of pain relief in first 7 days is considered, 22 patients(88%) belonging to group I and 10 patients (12%) belonging to group II had an excellent pain relief and were able to carry on with their normalroutine activities. Remaining 3 patients in group I were completely relieved of pain in next 3 days while 15 patients in group II had to completeanother 10 days for complete cure. To test the statistical significance of the result chi-square test was applied and the result showed thatpatients of Group I responded significantly well to the treatment as compared to those in Group II. Conclusion: Using the parameters of painrelief and movements of vertebral column, the combination of diclofenac sodium & vitamin-B complex was found to be more effective modeof treatment as the duration of treatment and the dosage of diclofenac sodium was less and also relief of pain was more rapid.