Comparison of the onset and intensity of action of intramuscular meloxicam and oral meloxicam in patients with acute sciatica

In this randomized, double-blind, double-dummy trial, 113 patients with acute sciatica were treated with a single 15-mg dose of meloxicam given intramuscularly (n = 54) or orally (n = 59). There was a significant improvement in induced pain (as measured by using the straight-leg-raising test) in both treatment groups at 60 minutes (P < 0.005), and there was a significant difference in favor of the intramuscular formulation in terms of the time to maximum improvement of induced pain (P = 0.01). Changes in spontaneous pain were similar in both treatment groups and were significant versus baseline (P < 0.01) at 30 minutes after study drug administration. Global efficacy evaluations by both the patients and investigators confirmed that meloxicam 15 mg in an intramuscular or oral formulation was effective in relieving pain in patients with acute sciatica. Meloxicam was generally well tolerated, and the local tolerability of the intramuscular injection was found to be excellent on the basis of both clinical evaluation and assessment of creatine phosphokinase levels.

[Possibilities of endoprosthetic joint replacement]

Nowadays arthroplastic operations determine the everyday work in the orthopaedic clinic. The good primary results show a distinct change of indications in favour of the artificial joint replacement. After a longer duration of implantation is to be reckoned with a failure quote of 10% and more. Here the problems of the durable anchoring of the prosthesis, the late infection and the exhaustion of the material are in the foreground. In the development of endoprosthesis in the GDR as carriers of the power the nickel-free cobalt-basis alloy Prothecast and as sliding partner the highly pure Hermsdorf aluminum oxide ceramic material were used as implant materials. These biomaterials best stood the test.