Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2006; 11: 22
To gain further experience regarding the tolerability of Pinimenthol ointment (active ingredients eucalyptus oil, pine-needle oil, menthol; marketed in Germany as Pinimenthol Erkältungssalbe Eukalyptusöl Kiefernnadelöl Menthol, Spitzner Pharmaceuticals, Ettlingen, Germany) in adolescents and adults suffering from upper respiratory tract infections a cohort study was performed.
Data for 3060 patients (≥12 years) were collected (64.9% prospectively over an individual period of 5–14 days, 35.1% retrospectively). The prospective documentation also comprised data concerning treatment effects. Sample size was calculated from the way that adverse drug reactions with an event probability of 1:1000 would occur within the cohort study at least once with a probability of 95%.
Most patients suffered from cold, acute or chronic bronchitis, bronchial catarrh or hoarseness. Pinimenthol ointment was prescribed for inunction (26.9%), inhalation (17.3%) or a combination of both (52.9%). The mean duration of therapy was 8.0 ± 3.4 days. The tolerability was rated as excellent or good by 97.7% of physicians and 97.0% of patients. A total of 22 patients (0.7%) reported adverse drug reactions, which mostly affected the skin or mucus membranes and therefore correspond to the expected adverse effects profile of Pinimenthol ointment. The effect of treatment was mostly estimated as excellent or good (physicians: 89.2%, patients: 89.3%).
The study confirms Pinimenthol ointment as a well-tolerated therapy option for upper respiratory tract infections in both adults and adolescents.
The study was funded by Dr Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals, Karlsruhe, Germany.
