Fourty adult patients with
coxarthrosis were treated for 30 days with oral
diclofenac sodium at the daily dose of 150 mg: 20 of these were administered one 150 mg prolonged-release
capsule per day, the other 20 received one 50 mg enteric-coated
tablet every 8 hours. The presence and severity of several symptoms and signs (various
pain types,
cramps, morning stiffness, impaired function capacity), the intensity of
pain through the Visual Analogical Scale and some laboratory tests (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate,
C-reactive protein, Rheuma test) were controlled to monitor
drug efficacy. The routine laboratory tests of blood, liver and kidney function, the gastrointestinal tolerance of the two administered formulations and the appearance of any adverse event were controlled to monitor
drug tolerability. Both administration schemes yielded very positive results as to treatment efficacy, although the prolonged-release
capsule often induced a somewhat quicker response. At the end of the one-month treatment more than half of patients in both groups registered disappearance of several symptoms and a noticeable reduction of the remainder ones. Systemic tolerability was also good, with superimposable results in the two groups; gastrointestinal tolerance on the contrary was better in the recipients of the prolonged-release capsules (2 cases of
dyspepsia) with respect to those treated with the
enteric-coated tablets (2 cases of gastric
pyrosis and 2 cases of gastralgia). No adverse events were registered.