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Although two inhibitors of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) have been marketed this year, few studies have been published in the peer-reviewed literature on the efficacy of these drugs. In this multicenter North American trial, 1003 patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee were randomized to 5 groups: celecoxib (50 mg, 100 mg, or 200 mg twice daily); naproxen (500 mg twice daily); or placebo. The duration of therapy was 12 weeks.
On a variety of measurements of pain and function, the naproxen group and the 100-mg and 200-mg celecoxib groups had comparable levels of improvement. All 3 of these groups improved significantly more than the placebo group. The 50-mg celecoxib group tended to have intermediate outcomes. Total numbers of adverse…