A comparative study to assess the safety and efficacy of etoricoxib versus aceclofenac in osteoarthritis

ABSTRACT

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is most common form of arthritis; also referred as degenerative joint disease or “wear and tear” arthritis. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors are effective for pain and inflammation in OA and gained importance over conventional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs), as causes significantly less toxicity, particularly, in gastrointestinal tract. The objective of the present research was to study the short-term comparative clinical efficacy of aceclofenac and etoricoxib in patients with osteoarthritis and to compare the safety profile of the two drugs i.e. aceclofenac and etoricoxib.Methods: The present study was a prospective, open label, parallel, intention to treat 80 patients out of 102 screened for osteoarthritis in the Department of Orthopaedics, Guru Nanak Dev Hospital attached to the Government Medical College, Amritsar. Patients were randomly divided in two groups with 40 patients each. Group A patients received Tab etoricoxib 60mg once daily and Group B patients received Tab. Aceclofenac 100mg twice daily. Patients were followed up after three weeks and at six weeks for clinical efficacy and safety.Results: Both the groups found to have significant improvement in signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis. However, aceclofenac was superior to etoricoxib in terms of change in visual analogue scale score, osteoarthritic severity index, patients’ and physicians’ global assessment while, etoricoxib was superior in terms of WOMAC osteoarthritic index and safety parameters in terms of ADR.Conclusions: Etoricoxib was better than conventional NSAIDs for the symptomatic management of osteoarthritis in terms of safety profile and clinical efficacy.