PMID: 18705272Aug 19, 2008Paper

An open prospective study on postmarketing evaluation of the efficacy and tolerability of diacerein in osteo-arthritis of the knee (DOK)

Journal of the Indian Medical Association
Akhilesh SharmaVidyagauri Baliga

Abstract

According to World Health Organisation osteo-arthritis is the second commonest musculoskeletal problem in the world. Diacerein has been recently introduced in India for the treatment of osteo-arthritis. In view of the ulcerogenic potential of NSAIDs and the cardiotoxicity problems associated with COX-2 inhibitors, diacerein has the potential of being a non-ulcerogenic and non-cardiotoxic alternative respectively to NSAIDs and of COX-2 inhibitors in the treatment of osteo-arthritis. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of diacerein in the treatment of osteo-arthritis. A total 7923 patients with osteo-arthritis of the knee fulfilling the selection criteria were enrolled in this open-label, multicentric postmarketing surveillance study. After a wash-out period of one week, patients were treated with 50mg diacerein tablets administered twice daily for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy variable of the present study was to assess the improvement in the visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for pain. The secondary variable was improvement in patients' and physicians' global assessment of efficacy of therapy. Results indicated that over the 12-week study period, diacerein 50mg tablets provide...Continue Reading

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