FLURBIPROFEN VERSUS DICLOFENAC FOR THE TREATMENT OF OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

Seventy-four patients were enrolled in this double-blind, randomized single-center study to evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of 50 mg tid regimens of flurbiprofen or diclofenac sodium in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. By chance, the flurbiprofen patients had a significantly more advanced disease status at baseline than their diclofenac-treated counterparts. However, at subsequent follow-up evaluations, both treatment groups experienced a significant reduction in disease severity regardless of the baseline differences. No serious safety problems were associated with either investigational therapy. The frequency of reported medical events were distributed equally between the flurbiprofen and diclofenac groups. Although the imbalance in disease severity between treatment groups made a rigorous statistical interpretation of the results very difficult, the data from this clinical trial tend to support the equiefficacy of 50 mg tid regimens of flurbiprofen versus diclofenac for treating osteoarthritis of the knee.