Four studies on
ketoprofen [2-(3 Benzoylphenyl)
propionic acid, 19583 R.P.,
Orudis,
Profenid N.D.] have been carried out to establish whether it is well tolerated and effective in the treatment of patients with
rheumatoid arthritis. Firstly a comprehensive open clinical and biological monitoring study was undertakin in 11 patients who received
ketoprofen for an average period of 20 months without any serious or persistent adverse clinical reaction or adverse change in standard laboratory investigations. The second study involved the same patients who were also included in an ophthalmic screening study for
drug toxicity. This established that no
eye abnormalities attributable to
ketoprofen occurred during this period of treatment. These tolerance studies were then followed by two comparative double-blind cross-over trials of
ketoprofen in 117 patients with "definite"
rheumatoid arthritis. One of them confirmed the significantly superior
analgesic effect compared with placebo and showed that the incidence of adverse reactions was similar. The other trial showed that comparing
ketoprofen 150 mg daily and
indomethacin 100 mg daily the clinical effects of the two drugs were the same in 8 out of 10 indices. Only in severity of
pain and rescue
drug count was there a significant difference favouring
indomethacin. Adverse reactions were more frequent with
indomethacin despite prior exclusion from the study of patients known to be intolerant of
indomethacin. It was concluded that on this evidence
ketoprofen is a clinically active and well tolerated
drug which should be valuable in the management of
rheumatoid arthritis.