Efficacy and safety of etoricoxib compared with NSAIDs in acute gout: a systematic review and a meta-analysis

The aim is to study the efficacy and safety of etoricoxib in the treatment of acute gout, as compared with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). We conducted a computerized search of electronic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, China Biology Medicine disc, and Cochrane Library. The search terms were as follows: gout arthritis, tophus, etoricoxib, indometacin naproxen, diclofenac, and NSAIDs. Articles were searched from 1983 until August 2014. A manual search of peer-reviewed English documents was performed by cross-checking the bibliographies of selected studies. These trials reported pain relief as the primary outcome. Tenderness, swelling, patients’ global assessments of response to treatment, and investigators’ global assessments of response to treatment were reported as the secondary outcomes. All adverse events were recorded for safety assessment. Six trials including 851 patients were identified. Both etoricoxib and NSAIDs had an effect on inflammation and analgesia. Compared with indometacin and diclofenac, etoricoxib had a lower incidence of adverse events. Etoricoxib 120 mg administered orally once daily has the same efficacy on acute gout as indometacin and diclofenac. Etoricoxib is tolerated better by patients than NSAIDs such as indometacin and diclofenac.