RESUMEN
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the clinical efficacy of Compound Xiatianwu tablets in the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>One hundred and eighty cases with active rheumatoid arthritis were randomly divided into the control group (60 cases) with leflunomide, sulfasalazine, and celecoxib; the treatment group (120 cases) given compound Xiatianwu tablets on the basis of the control group, 2 tablets each time, 3 times/day, with the course of treatment of 3 month. Patients of the two groups were observed for clinical symptoms, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, and immunoglobulin changes before and after the treatment.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The treatment group showed an overall efficiency of 94. 2% , the Xiatianwu group showed an overall efficiency of 80. 0%, while the control group showed an overall efficiency of 81.7%. The difference among the three groups was statistically significant (P <0. 05 or P <0. 01) , indicating that the treatment group was superior to the Xiatianwu group, while the Xiatianwu group was superior to the control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compound Xiatianwu tablets has remarkable effect in the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis.</p>