Comfrey root extract – indications and patient profiles: findings from an expert round table discussion

Abstract

Treatment of pain in muscles and joints is multifold comprising pharmacological substances and complementary medical treatment modalities The round table discussion including experts from the medical and pharmaceutical profession focused on identifying patient groups which can particularly benefit from topical treatment with a herbal medical product with comfrey root extract In diseases with recurrent pain such as osteoarthritis topical comfrey should be part of an overall treatment concept intending to support mobility and delaying progression of the disease to postpone joint replacement as long as possible As comfrey root is well tolerated and has no known drug interactions it is especially well suited for patients with concomitant diseases like elderly patients with osteoarthritis Moreover no loss in efficacy is observed even with regular long term application Patients with recurrent back pain who fear adverse events from oral analgesics and want to combine different procedures for pain relief are more willing to apply a cream on hard to reach areas like the back than patients with a single pain episode In case of acute blunt trauma topical comfrey root ointment provides local pain relief and may help to accelerate regeneration Moreover in contrast to topical diclofenac treatment comfrey root extract is authorized for paediatric patients above the age of years and may be the preferable choice for parents fearing adverse events from oral analgesics All experts participating in the discussion agreed that topical treatment with comfrey root extract is at least equally effective as local diclofenac but with the advantage of providing a good tolerability and combinability with other medications