Background: Oliban oil is frequently used in daily rheumatologic practice in Traditional Iranian Medicine, but its benefit, remains to be evaluated. Using of Oliban oil offers an alternative to oral treatment and Topical NSAID therapy, with the potential for a reduced knee pain and outcomes. Up to now, there is no research about of Oliban oil effects in knee pain. The objective of this trial was to assess the efficacy and safety of topical Oliban oil in relieving the symptoms of knee pain (vajaol-rakbe).
Methods: We identified 183 men and women with knee pain that adapted to The American College of Rheumatology clinical criteria for the classification of osteoarthritis and inclusion criteria. The participants were randomly assigned classified into three groups to apply topical treatment their painful knee for 6 weeks: Oliban oil as intervention group, sesame oil as control group and diclofenac gel as usual and positive control group. The degree of knee pain was quantified by visual analogue scale (VAS) and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Pain. Safety was evaluated with Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) (v4. 2010).
Results: Efficacy: In K.O.O.S pain score, The intervention group showed an improvement in the pain and symptoms compared with the control group (P = 0.04) but Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Sport and Recreation (Sport/Rec) and Knee-related Quality of Life (QOL) don’t improvement significantly. The V.A.S. scores were significantly better for the patients who applied the the Oliban oil and topical diclofenac gel than for those who applied the sesame oil (p = 0.02).Furthermore, The intervention group showed an improvement in the pain compared with the diclofenac group (P = 0.03). Safety: safety assessments showed that topical Oliban oil caused skin pruritus in 1/48 (o.o2%).
Conclusion: this controlled drug trial demonstrates the potential efficacy and safety of topical Oliban oil in symptomatic treatment of knee pain and with only minor local skin pruritus.