Lohr 1986.

Methods	Study design: 2 parallel arms, randomised, double‐blind. Method of randomisation: not reported. Exclusion post randomisation: not reported. Losses to follow up: 6. Quality score = 3.
Participants	Country: Germany. Setting: GP practice. No: 80 entered, 6 drop outs. Age: (mean) 54 years in total patient sample. Sex: males 17; females 57. Inclusion criteria: CVI. Exclusion criteria: not reported.
Interventions	Treatment: 1 capsule HCSE (standardised to 50 mg escin) twice daily. Control: placebo. Duration: 8 weeks.
Outcomes	Primary: leg volume Secondary: 1) circumference 2) leg pain 3) oedema 4) pruritus
Notes	Primary and secondary outcomes: Not enough data provided for effect size calculation.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Allocation concealment not reported
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	The study was conducted randomised and double blind
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	It is not clear how incomplete outcome data were addressed
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	No evidence of selective reporting
Other bias	Unclear risk	No evidence of other biases