EFFICACY AND TOLERABILITY OF INTRAMUSCULAR AND ORAL MELOXICAM IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE LUMBAGO - A COMPARISON WITH INTRAMUSCULAR AND ORAL PIROXICAM

In this controlled, randomised, parallel-group, multicentre study, the efficacy and tolerability of an intramuscular (i.m.) dose of meloxica m (15 mg) on Day 1 followed by seven days of oral meloxicam (15 mg/day ) were compared with those of an i.m. dose of piroxicam (20 mg) on Day 1 followed by seven days of oral piroxicam (20 mg/day) therapy in a t otal of 169 outpatients with acute lumbago. Time to onset of analgesic action after i.m. injection was determined, and overall efficacy, pai n on movement, limitation of daily activities, local tolerability at t he injection site and overall tolerability were assessed by investigat ors and patients on verbal rating scales (VRSs). Adverse events and la boratory assessments were documented. Meloxicam and piroxicam showed a vapid onset of action after i.m. injection (40 and 45 minutes median time, respectively), overall efficacy of bath therapies was highly rat ed, and limitations to daily life were greatly reduced in the majority of patients in both groups. There were no statistically significant d ifferences in efficacy between meloxicam and piroxicam. Local and over all tolerabilities were equally good for the two drugs, but there were fewer gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events among meloxicam patients ( 1.2% of patients) than piroxicam patients (7.0% of patients). The impr oved tolerability profile of meloxicam may be explained by its selecti vity towards cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2).