Fentiazac in the treatment of osteoarthritis and tendinitis

In a double-blind trial in 20 patients with osteoarthritis, treatment was given at random with either 200 mg fentiazac or 50 mg indomethacin twice daily for 6 weeks. Both treatments produced marked improvement in pain and the other variables studied but, apart from blood pressure which was raised in the indomethacin group, no significant differences between treatments were observed. In a second double-blind trial involving 24 patients with acute non-articular rheumatism, mainly tendinitis, 200 mg fentiazac twice daily was compared with 200 mg phenylbutazone twice daily over a period of 2 weeks. No significant difference in improvement was found between treatments in any of the clinical variables studied, although there was a trend in favour of fentiazac, particularly in the relief of tenderness. No difference was noted in the incidence or nature of side-effects, which were mainly gastro-intestinal in origin, reported by patients in the treatment groups in either study.