Etodolac, aspirin, and placebo in patients with degenerative joint disease: a twelve-week study.

Thirty patients from a private practice were enrolled in an investigation designed to compare the efficacy and safety of a new nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, etodolac, with those of aspirin and placebo in ameliorating pain, inflammation, and functional deficits associated with degenerative joint disease. The 12-week, double-blind, parallel-group study was divided into drug-titration and maintenance periods and was preceded by a washout period of up to two weeks. There were ten patients in each of the three treatment groups. The mean daily maintenance dosages of etodolac and aspirin were 384 mg and 4,322 mg, respectively. Etodolac was significantly (less than or equal to 0.05) more effective than placebo according to 11 of 15 clinical indexes of efficacy: three assessments of the range of motion of the knee joint, and one each of pain while standing, pain while walking, pain while climbing stairs, the average of pains while bearing weight, pain at night, joint tenderness, patient's self-evaluation, and the time required to walk 50 feet. Aspirin was significantly more effective than placebo in only three assessments: two of the range of motion of the knee joint and one of pain while standing. One patient taking etodolac, three patients taking aspirin, and six patients taking placebo withdrew from the trial because of insufficient therapeutic response. There were four withdrawals due to adverse effects, two in the aspirin group and two in the placebo group. Adverse effects (tinnitus and hearing loss) leading to withdrawal of one of the two aspirin patients were probably due to drug administration. No significant side effects were reported by patients in the etodolac group.

Long-term safety of zomepirac: a double-blind comparison with aspirin in patients with osteoarthritis.

Zomepirac at daily doses of 400 to 600 mg was well tolerated and provided continuing effective analgesia in the relief of chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis. In this long-term safety study, patients treated with zomepirac had significantly fewer adverse reactions and fewer limiting adverse reactions than did patients treated with aspirin. Thus zomepirac, which has previously shown efficacy in single-dose studies as well as good patient acceptability and efficacy in circumstances typical of clinical practice, has been found in this study to compare favorably to aspirin in a long-term (12-week) study in 238 patients with chronic pain secondary to osteoarthritis.

A multicenter trial of sulindac in osteoarthritis of the hip.

Sulindac (cis-5-fluoro-2-methyl-l-[(p-methyl sulfinyl)-benzylidene]-indene-3-acetic acid) is a new nonsteroidal antirheumatic drug recently evaluated in a double-blind trial of 91 patients with hip osteoarthritis. Consecutive patients with documented flare following previous drug withdrawal were randomly assigned to one of 3 treatment groups: (1) sulindac given twice daily, (2) sulindac given 4 times daily, and (3) placebo. The dosage of sulindac, 100 to 300 mg daily, was adjusted according to patient global response and tolerance at 3- to 7-day intervals over 3 wk. Of 15 efficacy measurements evalulated, there was no difference between sulindac given 2 or 4 times daily, but differences were disclosed between one or both sulindac treatment groups and placebo in 11 of the 15 efficacy measurements (p less than 0.05, less than 0.01). The frequency of adverse reactions was of the same order for each treatment group. These included gastrointestinal upset, rash, and dizziness, usually transient and mild to moderate in severity. Serial laboratory studies revealed no evidence of renal, hepatic, or hematopoietic toxicity.