Controlled clinical trial on a new nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy for arthropathic patients.

Following a single-blind, randomized protocol, a study was performed on two groups of 24 patients suffering from highly painful, osteoarticular phlogistic and/or degenerative affections, in order to evaluate the effectiveness and the tolerability of a new controlled release naproxen formulation in comparison with standard naproxen. Controlled release naproxen was administered at the dosage of a 750 mg/day tablet for 10-15 days; the standard naproxen at the dosage of two 375 mg/day capsules for 10-15 days. The phlogosis and pain reduction and the functional recovery, resulted similarly sharp and statistically significant following the two treatments. Both drugs showed not only an excellent effectiveness but also an elevate systemic tolerability. The local tolerability appeared higher in the group treated with controlled-release naproxen, where the side effects incidence at gastroenteric level was 12%, vs 25% in the control group. Therefore, the new experimented drug appears of excellent effectiveness and a large safety margin; it can be thus considered as a drug of first choice in the symptomatic therapy of arthrosis and other rheumoarthropathies.