A comparison of indoprofen and indomethacin in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis

Abstract

A double-blind, crossover trial was carried out to compare the effectiveness and tolerance of indoprofen with indomethacin in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. Nineteen patients entered the study and 1 was withdrawn for reasons unrelated to therapy. Patients received 4-weeks' treatment in random order, with 200 mg indoprofen 4-times daily and 25 mg indomethacin 4-times daily. Most subjective and objective clinical measurements of disease activity showed a comparable degree of improvement with either drug although few statistically significant changes were observed. There was no statistically significant difference between treatments and, although gastro-intestinal side-effects occurred more commonly with indoprofen, patients known to be intolerant of indomethacin had been excluded from this trial.