Procaine (Gerovital): no effect on the rehabilitation result in patients with back or hip disease

Gerovital was compared with placebo and another procaine preparation in a double blind study of 88 rehabilitation patients suffering from back or hip disease. In an open part of the study procaine from intramuscularly injected Gerovital disappeared from the plasma within 15-30 minutes. In patients treated with Gerovital or another procaine no clinical, physiological or psychological benefits were found in addition to the improvements following rehabilitation compared with placebo treatment. Clinical examination showed that the benefits of rehabilitation were similar in patients receiving Gerovital, another procaine and placebo.