Acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain is a leading symptom of most common rheumatic diseases. At the same time, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most important symptomatic medications for this pathology due to their combination of anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, and antithrombotic properties (Nasonov E.L., 2006). The fastest and most powerful analgesic effect among NSAIDs and at the same time an acceptable safety profile is characterized by ketoprofen (Badokin V.V. et al., 2007), which since 2015 has been represented on the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market by the ARTROCOL brand of World Medicine (UK). Today, the line of this fairly new brand is expanding to meet the needs of patients, so in April 2016, pharmacy visitors will be able to purchase ARTROCOL in 2 dosage forms: gel and solution for injection.
Ketoprofen, which is a part of the ARTROCOL brand, has been widely used in clinical practice for many years. It has a central and peripheral analgesic effect and eliminates the symptoms of inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Its analgesic activity is significantly higher compared to diclofenac and indomethacin (Badokin V.V. et al., 2007). In most patients, after intramuscular administration, ketoprofen is detected in the blood in 15 minutes, and the maximum concentration is reached in 2 hours. It easily penetrates into the joint cavity and remains in the synovial fluid for a long time, so the severity of pain and joint stiffness decreases for a long time.
Ketoprofen in ARTROCOL is intensively metabolized in the liver. Its half-life is short and amounts to 2 hours. In a number of special clinical studies, it has been shown that the pharmacokinetics of ketoprofen in young and elderly people do not differ significantly. Moreover, ketoprofen does not adversely affect articular cartilage (Chichasova N.V. et al., 2003). This suggests that its use in patients with degenerative joint diseases may have more advantages than some other NSAIDs.
The efficacy of ketoprofen in rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis has been demonstrated in numerous clinical trials. In addition, ketoprofen is widely used not only in rheumatology, but also in other areas of medicine: obstetrics and gynecology, dentistry (toothache), surgery (postoperative pain), neurology (migraine, lower back pain), etc. Thus, the situations in which the ARTHROCOL brand will be relevant for a pharmacy visitor are:
- complaints of pain in muscles and joints after injuries and traumas;
- anti-rheumatic therapy in case of exacerbation of chronic pathology (rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, etc.)
- postoperative pain and pain during menstruation (ARTROCOL solution for injection as prescribed by a physician).