Efficacy and Safety of Celecoxib Compared with Placebo and Etodolac for Acute Postoperative Pain: a Multicenter, Double-blind, Randomized, Parallel-group, Controlled Trial

Celecoxib is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor) that is widely used. The efficacy and safety of celecoxib for treatment of acute postoperative pain were evaluated in Japanese patients. The objective was to assess whether celecoxib showed superiority over placebo treatment and non-inferiority versus etodolac (another selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor) that has been widely used for the management of acute pain. A multicenter, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, controlled study was performed, in which 616 patients with postoperative pain received celecoxib, etodolac, or placebo. Their impressions of study drug efficacy (overall assessment) and pain intensity were evaluated. Based on each patient's overall assessment of pain, the efficacy rate was 63.7% in the placebo group, 76.2% in the celecoxib group, and 68.0% in the etodolac group, with these results demonstrating superiority of celecoxib to placebo and noninferiority versus etodolac. The efficacy rate was significantly higher in the celecoxib group than in the etodolac group. There were no adverse events specific to celecoxib, and the safety of celecoxib was similar to that of placebo. Celecoxib was superior to etodolac for controlling acute postoperative pain.