A multi-centre study of zomepirac in painful conditions: an analysis of clinical data for 15,484 patients.

An open, multi-centre study was carried out in patients with various moderate to severe painful conditions to assess the effectiveness of zomepirac in relieving pain. Patients were treated with 300 mg to 600 mg zomepirac daily for 7 days. Data from 15,484 patients have been analyzed. Most of the patients (75%) were already being treated with an analgesic on entry and more than half of them had been prescribed this by their doctor. Almost half, however, had still been in pain for more than 4 weeks before receiving zomepirac. An analysis of pain severity assessments showed a reduction from an initial score of 2.4 to 1.3 (on a 4-point rating scale). Global responses were recorded and 71.7% of the patients were considered to have improved according to the opinion of both doctors and patients, with the best response (84.1%) being observed in those with acute painful states such as sprains, strains and fractures and with pain of short duration. Pain frequently disrupts sleep, and 46.2% of patients reported their sleep as 'bad' or 'very bad' on entry to the study. After treatment, this figure was reduced to 15.1%. The side-effects reported, which were mainly gastro-intestinal, were mild in general and led to withdrawal of only 7.2% of the patients before completion of treatment.