Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of olive oil and the Saj (R) cream on the occurrence and severity of striae gravidarum. Design: Parallel randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting: West Health Centre, Lolagar and Akbarabadi Hospitals, Tehran, Iran. Interventions: 360 Nulliparous women at their second trimester of pregnancy randomly (simple randomization) allocated into three groups of olive oil, the Saj cream, and control that finally 150 of them (50 subjects in each group) completed the study. Control group did not receive any medication/intervention. At gestational age of 38-40 weeks the participants were evaluated regarding the occurrence of striae on abdominal skin and its severity that were primary outcome of the study. Results: In the olive oil group, striae occurred in 72% of the participants, which were mild, moderate, and severe in 32%, 26%, and 6% of the cases, respectively. In those who received Saj cream, striae occurred in 64% of the cases, which were mild, moderate and severe in 16%, 34%, and 14% of the cases, respectively. With regard to the control group, striae occurred in 60% of the participants, among which striae were mild, moderate, and severe in 22%, 24%, and 14% of the cases, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences among the three studied groups regarding the incidence or severity of striae. Conclusion: Neither olive oil nor the Saj cream were effective in preventing the occurrence of striae gravidarum or affecting its severity. Further studies to examine the effect of other herbal/chemical preparations on occurrence of striae gravidarum are recommended. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
