A comparative, double-blind study on tolfenamic acid in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Sixty patients with diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis were treated at random with tolfenamic acid, a new nonsteroid anti-inflammatory analgesic, in a daily dose of 600 mg, or with phenylbutazone 300 mg or acetylsalicylic acid 1,500 mg daily. Both the patients and the physician found that tolfenamic acid had a clearly better effect than phenylbutazone or the low-dose acetylsalicylic acid used as a control. Tolfenamic acid and acetylsalicylic acid were well tolerated. Serious side-effects (leukopenia and thrombocytopenia in one case, hematemesis and melena in another) only occurred in those patients who received phenylbutazone.