Safety and efficacy of on-demand versus continuous use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs in patients with inflammatory arthritis: a systematic literature review.

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review the efficacy and safety of on-demand versus continuous use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID) in patients with inflammatory arthritis and to assess if longterm continuous treatment with NSAID in comparison with NSAID treatment on-demand reduces radiographic progression.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was performed in Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism 2008-2009 meeting abstracts as part of the multinational 3e (Evidence, Expertise, Exchange) Initiative for generating practical recommendations about Pain Management by Pharmacotherapy in Inflammatory Arthritis. Articles fulfilling predefined inclusion criteria were reviewed and quality appraisal was performed.

RESULTS

The search yielded a total of 1410 articles from Medline and Embase, 73 from Cochrane Central, and 3 meeting abstracts. After review, only one study fulfilled the defined inclusion criteria, which indicated that longterm continuous treatment with NSAID versus NSAID treatment on-demand reduced radiographic progression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Secondary measured endpoints were disease activity measures including pain and the frequency of observed adverse events in both groups. Relevant adverse events tended to occur more frequently in the continuous treatment group with odds ratios of 2.79 for hypertension, 1.67 for abdominal pain, 1.35 for diarrhea, 0.95 for dyspepsia, and 3.2 for depression. None of these differences were statistically significant, with the exception of depression, which could not be explained.

CONCLUSION

Based on a single study, there does not seem to be a statistical difference in efficacy between the on-demand versus continuous use of NSAID in the context of ankylosing spondylitis. There were no studies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or spondyloarthritis. Research is needed to study the risk-benefit ratio of continuous versus on-demand use of NSAID.