A double-blind, parallel study of tenoxicam and piroxicam in patients with osteoarthrosis

A double-blind, parallel group study was carried out in 30 patients with osteoarthrosis to compare the efficacy and tolerance of tenoxicam (40 mg/day) and piroxicam (40 mg/day) given over a period of 4 weeks. All had previously been treated with a variety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and/or analgesics. Patients were allocated at random to one or other treatment group. Clinical and laboratory assessments were made on entry and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment. The results showed that both drugs improved general pain, the improvement being somewhat greater with tenoxicam. Little change was noted in other symptoms with either treatment. Side-effects reported were mainly gastro-intestinal. Six of the 15 piroxicam-treated patients stopped treatment because of adverse reactions, 1 because of treatment failure and 1 because he preferred previous treatment. Three of the 15 tenoxicam-treated patients discontinued because of adverse reactions. The remaining patients (7 on piroxicam and 12 on tenoxicam) elected at the end of the trial period to remain on their respective treatment instead of their previous medication.