The Risks of Analgesia with Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs in Cardiovascular Patients

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative and progressive joint disease, with a high incidence and prevalence in elderly people, caracterised by abnormal biomechanical stress and inflammation, which may be the cause of a continuous pain in cervical and lumbosacral spine, knee, hip, distal and proximal interphalangeal joints etc. In order to alleviate the painful symptomatology, pharmacotherapy with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has an important role. NSAIDs are some of the most commonly prescribed medications due to their analgesic, anti-inflamatory and antipyretic effect. When recommending these drugs, we should consider their benefits and also their potential side effects, like for any drugs. Some of the most severe adverse effects are: dyspepsia, gastrointestinal bleeding, gastric or duodenal ulceration, sodium retention and cardiovascular adverse effects. Usually, patients with heart disease have a greater likelihood of stroke or myocardial infarction when they use NSAIDs than the patients without cardiovascular risk factors. NSAIDs are commonly prescribed to treat acute or chronic pain and one of their main indications is the pain from vertebro-peripheral osteoarthritis. There are many studies about the safety and risks of NSAIDs treatment in patients with cardiovascular disease.