Efficacy and safety of a topical diclofenac solution (pennsaid) in the treatment of primary osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled clinical trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Dimethyl Sulfoxide and Diclofenac.

Oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used to relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis (OA) but can produce harmful systemic effects and end-organ damage.

A topical NSAID formulation may provide symptom relief with fewer adverse effects.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 326 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

The researchers evaluated 3 primary outcome measures, the Western Ontario McMaster Universities LK3.1 OA Index (WOMAC) pain and physical function subscales and a patient global assessment, and 2 other measures, stiffness and pain on walking, at baseline and after final application.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized and double-blind.

Because people in this Dimethyl Sulfoxide study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blinding on both sides kept the patients and researchers unaware of who received Dimethyl Sulfoxide.

A new topical diclofenac sodium solution-containing the absorption enhancer dimethyl sulfoxide-was evaluated for the relief of the symptoms of primary OA of the knee.

The researchers assessed safety by evaluation of adverse events, vital signs, and irritation at the application site.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Administration, Topical, Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal, Diclofenac, Dimethyl Sulfoxide, Osteoarthritis, Knee and Solvents.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Dimethyl Sulfoxide and Diclofenac in 326 patients.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

Results are reported in around 4 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2004 (Archives of internal medicine), a journal based in United States.

More context: the related DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, non-peptide solvent) library page, all human trials.