A double blind, placebo controlled study of piroxicam in the management of acute musculoskeletal disorders.

General Practitioners from the United Kingdom produced data on 1,282 patients with acute soft tissue injury treated with either piroxicam (Feldene) or matching placebo for a period of up to two weeks. The dosage of piroxicam was 40 mg for the first 2 days and 20 mg daily thereafter. Clinical assessment included pain, swelling, limitation of active and passive movement and overall assessment of efficacy and toleration. Piroxicam was significantly better than placebo in improving patient signs and symptoms, and in its overall efficacy (P less than 0.001); 87% of piroxicam treated patients had excellent or good responses, compared to 53% of placebo treated patients. On analysis of four of the most commonly occurring diagnoses (injuries of ankle, knee, shoulder, back) patients with moderate or severe pain showed a significant improvement on treatment with piroxicam. Physicians' overall assessment of toleration showed no evidence of differences between treatments. Over 90% of patients in both treatment groups had good or excellent toleration. Withdrawals due to side effects were 3% and 2.5% respectively for piroxicam and placebo treated patients.