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

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.