Drug Patch May Relieve Tendinitis Symptoms

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A recently developed patch containing the analgesic drug ketoprofen appears to be useful in treating tendinitis, according to a new study. Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) offer the advantage of local delivery without the side effects associated with drugs taken orally, the authors point out in their report, published in the Journal of Rheumatology.

Dr. Bernard Mazieres from Rangueil University Hospital in Toulouse, France, and colleagues investigated the effectiveness and side effects of the ketoprofen patch in the treatment of 172 patients with tendinitis. The problem most often affected the shoulder or elbow, but all upper and lower limb locations were represented.

Pain in daily activities decreased by 55.6 percent in the ketoprofen patch group, compared with 36.8 percent in the placebo group, the authors report. The differences in pain relief were notable at both days 3-4 and day 14.

The use of other pain medications was significantly decreased in the ketoprofen group compared with the placebo group, the researchers note.

The number of adverse events was similar in the treatment and placebo groups, the report indicates, with local skin reactions accounting for about one third of the adverse events in each group.

The investigators rated 69 percent of the ketoprofen patients as improved or cured, compared with 53 percent of the placebo group. Therapeutic responses were rated as good or excellent by 57.5 percent of the ketoprofen patients and by 48.2 percent of the placebo patients.

The study results suggest that a 3-to-14 day treatment course with the once-daily 100-milligram ketoprofen patch is useful for conditions such as tendinitis, Mazieres and colleagues conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, August 2005.