An Examination of Blinding for Chinese Herbal Oral Liquid and Matched Placebo

TCM is an essential context of the ICH management in Chinese culture. Given the potential benefits of Chinese herbal medicine Zhongfengxingnao formula (ZFXN) in reducing haematoma and bleeding after acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) from fundamental research and small clinical studies, more reliable evidence is required to guide ICH treatment using TCM. This study is designed to evaluate the blinding and physical consistency between the investigational drug and placebo in RCT, taking the trial named Chinese herbal medicine in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage (CHAIN) as an example. Therefore the blinding of placebo as well as and physical consistency with investigated TCM in CHAIN trial will be determined. In addition, an assessment method for blinding and physical consistency could be developed for subsequent placebo evaluations.