Research Article Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Benjakul Remedy Extract for Treating Primary Osteoarthritis of Knee Compared with Diclofenac: Double Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial Patamaporn Rachawat, 1 Piya Pinsornsak, 2 Puritat Kanokkangsadal, 1,3 and Arunporn Itharat 1,3 1 Department of Applied Tai Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tammasat University, Pathum Tani 12120, Tailand 2 Department of Orthopedics, Faculty of Medicine, Tammasat University, Pathum Tani 12120, Tailand 3 Center of Excellence in Applied Tai Traditional Medicine Research (CEATMR), Tammasat University, Pathum Tani 12120, Tailand Correspondence should be addressed to Arunporn Itharat; iarunporn@yahoo.com Received 18 April 2017; Revised 29 June 2017; Accepted 13 August 2017; Published 12 October 2017 Academic Editor: Antonella Fioravanti Copyright © 2017 Patamaporn Rachawat et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Te purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical efcacy and safety of Benjakul (BJK) extract for treating primary osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee compared with diclofenac. Methods. A phase 2, double blind, randomized, and controlled study was conducted. Te BJK group received 300 mg of BJK extract per day, while another group received 75 mg of diclofenac per day. All patients were followed up at 14 and 28 days. Te changing of visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, 100-meter walking times, the modifed Tai WOMAC index scores, and the global assessment were evaluated for efcacy. For safety issue, clinical signs and symptoms, complete physical examination, and renal and liver function were evaluated. Results. 39 and 38 patients for BJK extract group and diclofenac group were evaluated. For efcacy, all patients from both groups reported a decrease in the VAS pain score and 100-meter walking times but only the diclofenac group showed signifcant reduction of both measurements when compared with day 0. Te modifed Tai WOMAC scores of both groups were signifcantly reduced from baseline. However, all efcacy outcomes were not signifcantly diferent for both groups. For safety outcomes, the patients from both groups had no severe adverse events reported and only BJK had no toxicity in renal and liver functions. Conclusions. Te BJK remedy extract showed equal clinical efcacy in relieving symptoms of OA knee when compared with diclofenac. 1. Background Nowadays, advancement of medical science gives people a longer live span. From 2015 to 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22% [1]. Te world population is becoming an aging society and its health problems are under surveillance. Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is one of the most common diseases in elderly people. OA is a degenerative disease of the joint surface resulting from infammatory process. Tis process leads to damage of cartilage, entire joint, and surrounding sof tissue. Te main symptoms of OA are knee pain on movement, stifness, and functional limitation. Current OA treatment aims to relieve pain, limit progression of joint damage, and improve functional status [2]. Oral medication especially, nonsteroidal anti-infammatory drugs (NSAIDs), is commonly used for treatment of OA. NSAIDs inhibit cyclooxygenase enzyme (COX) which synthesizes prostaglandins as a cause of pain. However, they have some side efects such as peptic ulcer, liver, and renal dysfunction. Tus, there is keen interest in alternative medicines which seem to have less side efects. Hindawi Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2017, Article ID 9593580, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/9593580