Rothhaar 1982.

Methods	RCT, DB, parallel groups Duration 9 days Assessment on days 3, 7, 9
Participants	Sports injuries Baseline pain mild to severe N = 100 M = 49, F = 32 Average age 30 years (range 14 to 58)
Interventions	Escin 1%, diethylamine salicylate 5% (Reparil‐Gel), n = 50 Placebo gel, n = 50 Gel applied at least x 4 daily to affected area
Outcomes	PI (spontaneous): 4‐point scale PI with load: 4‐point scale PI on movement: 4‐point scale PI with pressure: 4‐point scale Tightness: 4‐point scale Temperature: 4‐point scale Haematoma: 4‐point scale Swelling: 4‐point scale Ratio of range of movement to unaffected limb Ratio of size to unaffected limb Patient global assessment: 5‐point scale Improvement in spontaneous pain: 3‐point scale Improvement in movement pain: 3‐point scale Remission in spontaneous pain: 3‐point scale Remission in movement pain: 3‐point scale Withdrawals Adverse events
Notes	Oxford Quality Score: R1, DB2, W1. Total = 4/5 19 patients had no data and were not included
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Method used to generate random sequence not described
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Method not described
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	"Geprüft wurde gegen ein vom Verum‐Präparat hinsichtlich Verpakkung, Aussehen und Geruch nicht unterscheidbares Plazebo‐Gel" [tested against a placebo gel which was indistinguishable in packaging, appearance and odour]
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	> 10% randomised participants provided no data
Size	High risk	< 50 participants per treatment arm provided data