A double-blind comparison of etodolac and piroxicam in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

A double-blind study was carried out to compare the effectiveness and tolerability of two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, etodolac and piroxicam, in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Sixty-five patients with active, radiologically verified osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to receive either 300 mg etodolac twice a day (33 patients) or 20 mg piroxicam once a day (32 patients) for 8 weeks. Effectiveness was measured by changes in the patients' and physician's overall evaluations, pain intensity, and night pain, recorded on 5-point scales. Other efficacy assessments included tenderness on pressure, the degree of swelling, knee flexion, the time needed to walk 50 feet, and duration of morning stiffness. After 4 weeks of therapy, mean values for patients' and physician's global evaluations, pain intensity, and night pain were significantly improved from baseline values in both treatment groups. Improvement continued throughout the study. Significant improvement in the other efficacy assessments was seen in both treatment groups after 4 weeks of therapy. There were no significant differences between the treatment groups in any efficacy assessment at any observation. Three etodolac-treated patients and 2 piroxicam-treated patients withdrew from the study because of adverse events. The results of this study indicate that 600 mg etodolac per day is as effective as 20 mg piroxicam per day in the treatment of osteoarthritis.