An open prospective study of the efficacy and safety of therapy with a bioactive concentrate of small marine fish in patients with vertebrogenic lumboischialgia

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate efficacy and safety of the use of a bioactive concentrate of small marine fish (Alflutop) in patients with vertebrogenic sciatica (SC).Patients and methods. The study included 30 patients with persistent (more than 3 months) vetebrogenic SC who underwent inpatient treatment in the neurological department of the Republican Clinical Neurological Center (Kazan). The patients were randomized into two groups: 15 patients of the 1st group received Alflutop (2 ml intramuscularly every other day, 10 injections in total) in addition to standard therapy, and 15 patients of the 2nd group (control) received standard therapy. The effectiveness of therapy was assessed using a visual analogue scale, Roland-Morris and EQ-5D questionnaires, an index of severity and frequency of sciatica.Results and discussion. Patients who received the study drug in addition to standard therapy showed a more rapid decrease in pain intensity, a trend towards a decrease in the severity index of sciatica, while no adverse events were recorded during the entire follow-up.Conclusion. The inclusion of Alflutop in the traditional scheme of inpatient treatment of patients with vertebrogenic SC allows to achieve a significantly greater reduction in the intensity of the pain syndrome after 20 days and 2 months after the start of therapy.

Keywords

• vertebrogenic sciatica
• therapy
• bioactive concentrate of small marine fish
• alflutop
• efficiency