In older patients with arthritis and no history of cardiovascular disease, chronic use of any non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug appears safe from a cardiovascular and gastrointestinal stand-point, and regular, non-selective NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and diclofenac appear just as safe as the selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor celecoxib according to results the SCOT trial.
The Standard care versus Celecoxib Outcome Trial (SCOT) was presented in a Hot Line session at ESC Congress 2015.
The large trial, which included more than 7-thousand subjects taking chronic, prescribed NSAIDs in a primary care setting, is strong evidence for the safety of these medications overall, in light of recent debate about whether COX-2 inhibitors might carry less gastrointestinal risk but more cardiovascular risk compared to non-selective NSAIDs (nsNSAIDs), said Professor Thomas M MacDonald, MD, principal investigator of the study, from the University of Dundee in Scotland.
