Joint pain is the main complaint in patients affected by osteoarthritis (OA), and NSAIDs are commonly used to treat pain associated with OA. Over the past few years, cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2-selective inhibitors have been proved to have certain advantages over non-selective NSAIDs and have been increasingly used for pain management in patients with OA.
The main objective of this randomised, double-blind, within-patient study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of three COX-2 inhibitors in 30 patients affected by symptomatic OA of the knee. We evaluated the effects of oral nimesulide (100mg), celecoxib (200mg) and rofecoxib (25mg). Each drug was administered for 7 days.
Analgesic efficacy was determined using the patient's assessment of pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and by total pain relief over 3 hours (TOPAR3) on the first and last days of treatment. In addition, the overall analgesic efficacy and tolerability were determined by a global assessment by the patient at the end of each week of treatment, using 5-point categorical scales. At the end of the study, each patient was asked about which of the three forms of treatment they would choose as a continuation of the pain therapy.
Taking all the results into consideration, nimesulide proved to be significantly more effective in providing symptomatic relief than did celecoxib and rofecoxib. Furthermore, nimesulide provided more rapid relief of pain associated with walking than did the other two drugs tested. Patients expressed similar preference for nimesulide and rofecoxib, but a lesser preference for celecoxib treatment. No patient withdrew from the study because of adverse events and the three different forms of treatment were generally safe and well tolerated.
The present data confirm our previous observations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, further suggesting that nimesulide represents an effective agent for the treatment of joint pain, with particular reference to the rapid onset of its analgesic effect.