Meloxicam emulgels for topical management of rheumatism: Formulation development, and characterization.

Purpose: The study designed, formulated and evaluated meloxicam emulgels as a potential alternative topical treatment option for rheumatism.

Methods: A 3 factorial design was employed to formulate nine preliminary meloxicam emulgels (Formulations F1 - F9). The influences of carbopol-934 and menthol as gelling agent and drug release enhancer, respectively, were correlated with four pharmaceutical properties of the formulated emulgels namely viscosity, spreadability, and cumulative drug release at one hour and at eight hours.