This was a randomized, single blind, placebo-controlled,
comparative study carried out by the Division of Clinical
Pharmacology at the outpatient Department of Orthopedics,
of a tertiary care hospital. Approval from Institutional
Ethical Review Board (IERB) was obtained. The study was
carried out according to the principles of the International
Conference on Harmonization (ICH) and Good Clinical
Practice (GCP) as well as World Health Organization
(WHO) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
guidelines for controlled trials on pharmaceutical products,
2006. The trial was registered at Clinical Trial Registry of
India [CTRI/2010/091/001251]. Written and informed
consent was obtained from each patient at screening before
the initiation of study-related procedures. The power of the
study was 87 % with a sample size of 30 in each of the four
groups (N = 120 excluding drop outs) to detect the difference
of 45 % reduction in pain scores using VAS scale
compared to placebo.