Safety and efficacy of meloxicam 7.5 mg in the treatment of osteoarthritis in Thai patients.

A prospective, open trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral meloxicam 7.5 mg once daily over a period of 28 days in Thai patients with osteoarthritis was conducted in 3 major hospitals in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 137 patients were enrolled and completed the study protocol. The mean age of the patients was 57.6 years and 88 per cent were female. Pain on movement and pain at rest evaluated after treatment by visual analog scale (VAS) were significantly improved with respect to the baseline status (p<0.001). The final efficacy was reported as satisfactory or good in 97 per cent and 94 per cent as determined by patients and physicians respectively. Patient status evaluated at the end of the study reported improvement of their arthritic condition in 84 per cent. Drug tolerability assessed by patients and physicians and was good or satisfactory in 99 per cent and 98 per cent. GI adverse event was reported in 8.8 per cent. Other adverse events were itching/rash in 2.0 per cent and headache/insomnia in 1.5 per cent of patients. No patients withdrew from the study due to adverse events. No GI bleeding or perforation were observed. No hospitalization was observed during the study. There was no significant change of blood chemistry and hematological profile between pre and post treatment examination. Results from this study suggest that oral meloxicam 7.5 mg for 28 days is a safe and effective treatment regimen with high GI tolerability profile for the treatment of osteoarthritis in Thai patients.