How common is diclofenac-associated liver injury? Analysis of 17,289 arthritis patients in a long-term prospective clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES: Few data are available from prospective trials to define the hepatotoxicity of diclofenac, the most widely prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) in the world. We determined the rate of laboratory and clinical adverse hepatic effects in a large double-blind trial of diclofenac. METHODS: Patients > or = 50 years with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to diclofenac (150 mg daily) or etoricoxib (60 or 90 mg daily). Patients with hepatic disease or who reported > or = 14 alcoholic drinks weekly were excluded. Patients had visits (with liver tests) every 4 months and were contacted by phone between visits and every 6 months after discontinuation until the end of the study. Causality assessment was performed for liver-related hospitalizations, Hy's cases (serious adverse events with AST or ALT >3 x upper limit of normal (ULN) and bilirubin >2 xULN), and liver failure/transplant/death. RESULTS: A total of 17,289 patients received diclofenac for a mean of 18 months. Liver end points with diclofenac were ALT/AST>3 xULN: 527(3.1%); ALT/AST >10 xULN: 86(0.5%); liver-related hospitalizations: 4(0.023%); Hy's cases: 2(0.012%); liver failure/death/transplant: 0. Aminotransferase elevations occurred primarily within the first 4-6 months of therapy, whereas liver-related hospitalizations occurred between 9 days and 21 months. CONCLUSIONS: Diclofenac is commonly associated with aminotransferase elevations, generally in the first 4-6 months of therapy. Clinical liver events requiring hospitalization are relatively rare (23/100,000 patients), but may develop early or late in therapy. The markedly increased rate of aminotransferase elevation with diclofenac may not be paralleled by a proportional marked increase in clinical liver events, although clinical events potentially also may be decreased with regular monitoring in a clinical trial setting.

Serious lower gastrointestinal clinical events with nonselective NSAID or coxib use.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Epidemiologic studies suggest nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increase the risk for lower gastrointestinal (GI) clinical events, but data from prospective trials are lacking. Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2-selective inhibitors decrease upper GI clinical events but the effect on lower GI events has not been determined. We performed a post hoc analysis of serious lower GI clinical events with a nonselective NSAID and a COX-2-selective agent in a prospective, double-blind, randomized GI outcomes trial. METHODS: A total of 8076 rheumatoid arthritis patients 50 years or older (or 40 years or older on corticosteroid therapy) expected to require NSAIDs for 1 year or greater were randomly assigned to naproxen 500 mg twice daily or rofecoxib 50 mg daily. The rate of serious lower GI clinical events, defined as bleeding with a 2 g/dL drop in hemoglobin or hospitalization, or hospitalization for perforation, obstruction, ulceration, or diverticulitis, was determined. RESULTS: The rate of serious lower GI events per 100 patient-years was 0.41 for rofecoxib and 0.89 for naproxen (relative risk, 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22-0.93; P = 0.032). Serious lower GI events accounted for 39.4% of all serious GI events (complicated upper GI event or lower GI event) among patients taking naproxen and 42.7% among those taking rofecoxib. CONCLUSIONS: Serious lower GI events occurred at a rate of 0.9% per year in rheumatoid arthritis patients taking the nonselective NSAID naproxen, accounting for nearly 40% of the serious GI events that developed in these patients. Serious lower GI events were 54% lower with the use of the selective COX-2 inhibitor rofecoxib.