A study on the effects of diclofenac sodium and etoricoxib in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

S Ghosh, S Paul, N Das, T K Bhattacharyya

Journal: Journal of the Indian Medical Association 2007;105(5):260-2

PMID: 17915794

Abstract

Diclofenac sodium, a non-selective cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor and etoricoxib, a selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor have been widely used in treatment of patients with osteo-arthritis. Five hundred and eighty-five patients with uncomplicated knee osteo-arthritis were randomly allocated into 3 equal groups and received either diclofenac sodium, etoricoxib or placebo in a double-blind manner. The response in both the drug groups was comparable and much more than placebo group. The study shows that etoricoxib provides better clinical efficacy and gastro-intestinal tolerability in osteo-arthritis in comparison to diclofenac sodium presumably due to the selective inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase-2 by etoricoxib.

Address: Department of Pharmacology, North Bengal Medical College, Darjeeling 734012.

MeSH Terms: Adult, Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors, Diclofenac, Double-Blind Method, Etoricoxib, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Osteoarthritis, Knee, Pyridines, Sulfones, Treatment Outcome