[Treatment of acute rheumatic-articular diseases with nabumetone]

Twenty patients, 10 males and 10 females, age range 32-76, mean age 57.80 years, with diagnoses of acute multiple joint disorders (9 cases), flare-ups of rheumatoid arthritis (4 cases), low back pain due to lumbosacral disc pathology (4 cases), osteoarthritis of large joints (3 cases), all with severe pain and corresponding functional limitation of the joints involved, were treated with a nabumetone preparation (1 g capsules; one capsule at night before going to bed) for 8-12 days. During treatment, symptoms subsided gradually with adequate recovery of joint function. Parameters concerning general tolerability did not reveal clinically relevant changes compared to baseline. Local tolerability was mostly satisfactory. Two patients complained of mild side effects (gastric pain and skin phenomena). Treatment was considered effective in 15 cases, scarsely effective in 4, and ineffective in one.