A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL OF A CHINESE HERBAL SOPHORA FLOWER FORMULA IN PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMATIC HAEMORRHOIDS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Authors

  • Kee-Ming Man
  • Wen-Chi Chen
  • Hwei-Ming Wang
  • Huey-Yi Chen
  • Jui-Lung Shen
  • Lieh-Der Chen
  • Fuu-Jen Tsai
  • Yung-Hsiang Chen
  • De-Xin Yu
  • Feng-Fan Chiang

Keywords:

Chinese herbal medicine, clinical trial, hemorrhoids, Sophora flower (Sophora japonica)

Abstract

Dried flowers and buds of Sophora japonica (Huaihua) are used in China, Japan and Korea for treating haematemesis and bleeding haemorrhoids. This study compared the clinical safety and efficacy of a Sophora flower formula with a placebo for the conservative treatment of symptomatic haemorrhoids. The study was a prospective, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. The clinical effective rate, symptom score and the incidence of important clinical events were used as observation indices to evaluate the effect of the Sophora flower formula. The results showed that after 7 days of treatment, improvement was observed in 87.0% of the patients’ major symptoms in the Sophora flower formula group compared with 81.8% of those in the placebo group. After 14 days, 78.2% patients in the Sophora flower formula group were asymptomatic, whereas 40.9% of those in the placebo group exhibited residual symptoms. However, the difference between both groups was not statistically significant. As the bowel habits of the patients improved and as the patients took sitz baths, their symptoms improved drastically, regardless of the use of the Sophora flower formula. These findings indicate that the traditional Chinese Sophora flower formula is clinically safe; however, its effects on haemorrhoids need to be studied in a larger sample size and with different dosages. The present study results may be a potential clinical reference for physicians prescribing medications for patients with symptomatic haemorrhoids.

Author Biographies

Wen-Chi Chen

Departments of Urology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical Genetics and Pediatrics, and Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40402, Taiwan

Feng-Fan Chiang

6Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Department of Dermatology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan.

Downloads

Published

2012-12-11

How to Cite

Man, K.-M., Chen, W.-C., Wang, H.-M., Chen, H.-Y., Shen, J.-L., Chen, L.-D., Tsai, F.-J., Chen, Y.-H., Yu, D.-X., & Chiang, F.-F. (2012). A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL OF A CHINESE HERBAL SOPHORA FLOWER FORMULA IN PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMATIC HAEMORRHOIDS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 10(2), 343–351. Retrieved from https://journals.athmsi.org/index.php/ajtcam/article/view/1733

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2013)

Section

Research Papers

License

Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution CC.

This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials. View License Deed | View Legal Code Authors can also self-archive their manuscripts immediately and enable public access from their institution's repository. This is the version that has been accepted for publication and which typically includes author-incorporated changes suggested during submission, peer review and in editor-author communications.