Table 1 Basic characteristics of the three treatment groups.

	Placebo	Dexamethasone	Acetic acid	Total
No of patients	10	11	10	31
Bilateral	2	4	5	11
Age (years)	52.2 (10.7)	49.3 (13.3)	52.0 (7.7)	51.1 (10.6)
Duration of symptoms (months)	7.5 (5.0)	8.1 (7.5)	18.6 (19.2)	11.8 (13.5)
Sex (M:F)	4:6	3:8	7:3	14:17
Weight (kg)	80.4 (18.0)	79.2 (11.0)	89.1 (17.4)	83.4 (16.2)
Height (cm)	167.3 (11.4)	170.1 (8.5)	169.9 (8.6)	169.2 (9.3)
Body mass index	28.6 (7.7)	28.1 (4.0)	31.2 (7.3)	29.4 (6.6)

Where applicable, values are mean (SD).