Naftidrofuryl for intermittent claudication: a double-blind controlled trial.

Intermittent claudication is the commonest symptom of an increasingly common disorder: obliterative arterial disease affecting the legs. Hitherto, despite the wide pharmaceutical range offered, there has been little medical treatment of proved value to prescribe and, in particular, vasodilator drugs have proved disappointing. This paper describes a double-blind controlled trial of naftidrofuryl (Praxilene), a new drug that is believed to facilitate oxygen exchange and enhance metabolism in ischaemic tissues.
The tendency for symptoms of claudication to improve during a period of observation is well known to those interested in vascular disease and probably accounts for the gross overprescribing of vasodilator or "vasoactive" drugs. This improvement occurred despite the fact that patients with apparently stable claudication were studied and that specific instructions on diet and smoking were withheld. In effect, by observing their own symptoms regularly, the patients were undertaking a programme of exercise similar to that commonly recommended for the condition.
We have been unable to show a benefit in our patients with claudication from oral naftidrofuryl. The administration of naftidrofuryl in more advanced vascular disease and by alternative routes may have different effects and requires separate study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]