Rowbotham 2004.

Study characteristics
Methods	Design: parallel Duration: 6 weeks Assessment: baseline and post‐intervention Country: USA
Participants	Pain condition: diabetic peripheral neuropathy Population: type 1 or 2 diabetic adults with diabetic peripheral neuropathy Minimum pain intensity: ≥ 40 on 0‐10 scale Inclusion criteria Metabolically stable type 1 or 2 diabetes were eligible if they had symptomatic peripheral neuropathy due only to diabetes and daily pain at moderate intensity for at least 3 months Exclusion criteria Physical and mental health comorbidities Total participants randomised: 245 Age in years (mean): 59 Gender: 99/245 were female Pain duration in weeks (mean): 252.6
Interventions	Placebo n = 81 Inert Identical appearance, double‐dummy design Venlafaxine 75 mg n = 82 SNRI Fixed dose Venlafaxine 150/225 mg n = 82 SNRI Flexible dose: 150 mg/day ‐ 225 mg/day depending on clinical response and tolerance.
Outcomes	Substantial pain relief AEs SAEs Withdrawal
Missing data methods	ITT with LOCF
Funding source	Pharmaceutical: support for this study was provided by Wyeth Research, Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
Conflicts of interest	NR
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Randomisation methods not specified
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Allocation procedures not specified
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Blinded bottles and capsules, identical dosing schedules between groups
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Self‐reported outcomes from blinded participants
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	ITT with LOCF Attrition Total: 43/245 (17.6%) Placebo: 12/81 (14.8%) Venlafaxine 75 mg: 13/82 (15.9%) Venlafaxine 150‐225 mg: 18/82 (22.0%)
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	No protocol or trial registration found
Other bias	Low risk	No other sources of bias were identified.