Comparative efficacy and safety of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs nimesulide and diclofenac in patients with acute subdeltoid bursitis and bicipital tendinitis.

The efficacy and tolerability of nimesulide, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) 100 mg twice daily were compared with diclofenac 75 mg b.i.d. in short term treatment of acute shoulder (acute subdeltoid bursitis and bicipital tendinitis) in adult patients. In this double-blind (double-dummy), randomised, parallel group study over two weeks, 122 patients were included. The Mann-Whitney statistics revealed therapeutic equivalence of both treatments with a slight superiority for nimesulide. The tolerability of nimesulide, judged by investigators and patients and analysed statistically, was superior to that of diclofenac. Thus, the benefit-risk relationship was better for the test drug than for the reference drug.