Flurbiprofen in rheumatoid arthritis therapy

Flurbiprofen in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. A comparison with aspirin

This large-scale, double-blind study compared 200 mg per day of flurbiprofen (Ansaid, Upjohn) with 4,000 mg per day of aspirin in 822 patients with definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis who were evaluated for up to 52 weeks. Overall response to therapy was similar in both groups. By the end of the study, however, significantly more patients remained in the flurbiprofen (54 percent) than in the aspirin group (40 percent). Significant differences were also found in the incidence and severity of adverse reactions: 36 percent of flurbiprofen-treated and 63 percent of aspirin-treated patients reported side effects. Severe adverse reactions occurred in 6.7 percent of the flurbiprofen-treated patients compared with 16.5 percent of the aspirin-treated patients. Withdrawals that were due at least in part to adverse reactions were more than twice as frequent in the aspirin group (21.4 percent) than in the flurbiprofen group (10.2 percent). Laboratory data collected throughout the study showed no clinically significant abnormalities in either group. This study suggests that flurbiprofen effectively controls the pain and other symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, and is superior in safety to aspirin in the treatment of patients with acute and chronic disease.