Trial reportEuropean journal of medical research2009
Echinacea/sage or chlorhexidine/lidocaine for treating acute sore throats: a randomized double-blind trial.
Trial report in European journal of medical research, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Phytotherapy for acute respiratory tract infections in children: a systematically conducted, comprehensive review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Electrospun PVP Nanofibrous Co-Loaded with Miconazole and Lidocaine for the Treatment of Oral Candidiasis.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Article
- Xerostomia: From Pharmacological Treatments to Traditional Medicine-An Overview on the Possible Clinical Management and Prevention Using Systemic Approaches.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2023Review
- Reduction of Viral Load in Patients with Acute Sore Throats: Results from an Observational Clinical Trial with Echinacea/Salvia Lozenges.Complementary medicine research · 2023Observational
- Natural Compounds for Preventing Ear, Nose, and Throat-Related Oral Infections.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- How to bridge the gap? European medical plants used for treating oral mucositis: on the search for evidence.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2020Article
- Historical ethnobotanical review of medicinal plants used to treat children diseases in Romania (1860s-1970s).Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2020Review
- Post-market outcome of an extract of traditional Cretan herbs on upper respiratory tract infections: a pragmatic, prospective observational study.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2017Observational
- Efficacy and tolerability of an ectoine mouth and throat spray compared with those of saline lozenges in the treatment of acute pharyngitis and/or laryngitis: a prospective, controlled, observational clinical trial.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2016Observational
- Evaluating the therapeutic efficacy, tolerability, and safety of an aqueous extract of Costus speciosus rhizome in acute pharyngitis and acute tonsillitis. A pilot study.Saudi medical journal · 2015Article
- Phytomedicine in otorhinolaryngology and pulmonology: clinical trials with herbal remedies.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2012Article
- Antioxidant Capacity and Polyphenolic Composition as Quality Indicators for Aqueous Infusions of Salvia officinalis L. (sage tea).Frontiers in pharmacology · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of this trial was to assess the relative efficacy of a sage/echinacea spray and a chlorhexidine/lidocaine spray in the treatment of acute sore throats.
methodsThis was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy controlled trial carried out in eleven general practices in Switzerland. A total of 154 patients (133 analyzed in per protocol collective) at least 12 years old with acute sore throat present for not more than 72 hours prior to inclusion and with a throat score >/=6 participated in the study. They used either an echinacea/sage spray or a chlorhexidine/ lidocaine spray with two puffs every 2 hours, in a double-dummy blinded manner, up to 10 times daily until they were symptom-free, for a maximum of 5 days. The main outcome measures was the comparison of response rates during the first three days. A response was defined as a decrease of at least 50% of the total symptoms compared to baseline.
resultsThe echinacea/sage treatment exhibited similar efficacy to the chlorhexidine/lidocaine treatment in reducing sore throat symptoms during the first 3 days (P(x<Y) = .5083). Response rates after 3 days were 63.8% in the echinacea/sage group and 57.8% in the chlorhexidine/lidocaine group. For all secondary parameters, such as time to becoming symptom free, throat pain, and global assessments of efficacy by the physician and patient, no difference between the two treatments was seen. They were both very well tolerated.
conclusionAn echinacea/sage preparation is as efficacious and well tolerated as a chlorhexidine/lidocaine spray in the treatment of acute sore throats.
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