[Clinical efficacy of sodium diclofenac in chronic juvenile polyarthritis]

We refer the results of an open non-comparative study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Diclofenac sodium in the treatment of Polyarticular Juvenile Chronic Arthritis. We decided to use this drug to investigate if it exerts also in younger patients the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects known in adults. We treated 26 patients (14 girls and 12 boys) aged 2-16 years; the disease duration ranged between 3 months and 14 years. Treatment was started only if previous anti-inflammatory drugs had been considered ineffective after a prolonged use (3-12 months). None was on basic therapy. No wash-out period was used for ethical reasons. During the trial period other additional symptomatic or anti-inflammatory drugs were not used. Diclofenac sodium was given by tablets and/or suppositories at the mean daily dosage of 2.4 mg/kg (min. 0.3-max. 5, according to disease activity) for a period of 2-52 months. Diclofenac sodium was particularly effective on joint pain and morning stiffness but also on joint swelling, and functional capacity. We noticed a tendency of JRA to improve during the trial period. The drug was well tolerated; one patient stopped because of headache, another continued the treatment only per os because of intolerance of rectal administration.