A double-blind cross-over study of ketoprofen and phenylbutazone in rheumatoid arthritis.

A double-blind cross-over trial was carried out in 50 patients with definite rheumatoid arthritis, in order to compare the effects of 300 mg/day of ketoprofen with those of 600 mg/day of phenylbutazone, e.g. the maximal clinically used doses of each drug. The treatment period on each drug was two weeks. There was no statistically significant difference between the drugs with the six parameters studied, either on subjective or objective evaluation. Both drugs were superior to the conventional treatment given before the trial. The side-effects did not differ significantly for each product, except that the central nervous symptoms were less frequent with ketoprofen. Ketoprofen thus seems to be an effective and acceptable drug for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.