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This double-blind randomized controlled study was designed to evaluate the analgesic effects of topical treatments with clonidine (CLON) and pentoxifylline (PTX) tested alone or as low-and high-dose combinations in a human experimental model of pain. Of 69 healthy subjects aged 18 to 60 years, 23 each were randomly allocated to low-dose (0.04% 1 2%) and high-dose (0.1% 1 5%) CLON 1 PTX groups. Both of these groups also received their corresponding placebos in one of 2 treatment periods separated by at least 48 hours. Twenty-three additional subjects received either CLON (0.1%) or PTX (5%) as single drug treatments, in each of 2 treatment periods. Assessment of analgesic efficacy was based on allodynic effects of previous intraepidermal capsaicin injection, as well as postcapsaicin tourniquet-induced pain 50 minutes following capsaicin injection. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ratings of pain …