[Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents]

Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have the highest rate of prescription in the world due to their efficacy in counteracting inflammation, pain, fever and blood clot (with low-dose aspirin). This therapeutic class has been recently widen by a new family of NSAID, namely COX-2 selective inhibitors or coxibs. A 50%-reduction in the rate of gastric ulcers and bleeding has been achieved with coxibs. However, some questions remain unanswered yet, such as the cardiovascular issue with coxibs. Although the tolerability of NSAIDs is generally good, some well-established good clinical practices avoid the rare unexpected events which could sparsely occurred.