Tolerability of Multiple Administration of Intramuscular Meloxicam: A Comparison with Intramuscular Piroxicam in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Osteoarthritis

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Abstract
This multicentre, randomized, open controlled study compared the local and overall tolerability of i.m. meloxicam with i.m. piroxicam in 211 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n = 95) or osteoarthritis (OA) (n = 116). Of these, 210 patients were randomized (2: 1) to receive meloxicam 15 mg (n = 144) or piroxicam 20 mg (n = 66) for 7 days. Local tolerability of meloxicam was significantly better than piroxicam with respect to occurrence of redness after the first injection (P = 0.03) and global assessment after the first and final injections (P < 0.05). No rise in creatinine phosphokinase levels (a marker of muscle fibre damage) was observed with meloxicam, in contrast to piroxicam (P = 0.0001). The overall tolerability of both treatments was good. Significant differences in favour of meloxicam were observed for global efficacy assessed by the patient in RA (P < 0.05) and for overall pain intensity in OA patients (P = 0.02). In conclusion, i.m. meloxicam is safe and effective for the treatment of acute rheumatic pain and shows some superiority over piroxicam.

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