DOUBLE-BLIND PARALLEL COMPARISON OF ETODOLAC AND DICLOFENAC SR IN PATIENTS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

A double-blind, parallel group study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of etodolac and a sustained-release formulation of diclofenac (diclofenac S.R.) in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Thirty-two patients received etodolac (300 mg twice daily) and 29 received diclofenac S.R. (100 mg once daily) for 6 weeks. At the final evaluation, the etodolac group showed significant (p less-than-or-equal-to 0.05) improvement from baseline in 12 efficacy assessments, compared with nine in the diclofenac S.R. group. Significant improvement in both groups was seen for the primary efficacy assessments (pain intensity, patients' and physicians' global evaluations), tenderness on pressure, and weight-bearing pain (pain caused by standing, walking, getting in and out of bed, getting up from a chair, and climbing stairs); improvement was significantly greater in the etodolac group for pain getting in and out of bed. The etodolac group also showed significant improvement in the degree of swelling, knee flexion, and morning stiffness. Greater functional improvement was seen in the etodolac group, as evidenced by greater percent change from baseline in four of the five types of weight-bearing pain. There were no significant differences between groups in the overall incidence of adverse reactions or in the incidence of a specific adverse reaction. These results indicate that etodolac is well tolerated in the treatment of OA, and compares favorably with diclofenac S.R. Furthermore, etodolac therapy returned functional capacity to the knee to a greater degree than did diclofenac S.R. therapy.