Sample size
The sample size was determined by the number of eligible participants who agreed to participate in the study between October 2 and March 20, 2020, ensuring that the entire population of interest was allocated. So, 62 patients in the treatment and 60 patients in the placebo groups participated in the present study. The decision to use all available patients in the study was based on similar studies in the literature that investigated changes in cytokine levels over time and often employed a similar approach, utilizing the available participants who met the inclusion criteria [