[Contribution of pirprofen to the medical treatment of radicular neuralgia].

A multicentric therapeutic double blind study, conducted according to the incomplete block method and including 108 observations from 5 hospital centers, was conducted among patients suffering from acute radicular, sciatic, cervico-brachial or crural neuralgia. The purpose was to compare the analgesic effect of 4 treatments given in single dose: pirprofen 200, pirprofen 400, ketoprofen 150 and placebo. Overall analysis showed a significant decrease in pain during the 4 hours following administration of the products and in all groups. However, pirprofen 400 and ketoprofen 150 mg caused a decrease in painful phenomena, more intense than that induced by pirprofen 200 and placebo. The great heterogeneity among the different treatment centers led the investigators to carry out a second analysis limited to the 4 most homogeneous centers. This analysis, of 84 observations, shows clearly the analgesic efficacy of both doses of pirprofen and ketoprofen compared to placebo. It also emphasizes the rapidity of action of pirprofen compared to the other products. The overall tolerance of the tested products was good. In the treatment of acute radicular neuralgia, pirprofen 400 mg is active in comparison to the placebo and more quickly effective than ketoprofen 150 mg.