Pirprofen (Rengasil) in the treatment of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. A segment I study

Thirty-two patients with JRA were enrolled in a 4-wk open-labeled, non-controlled multicentre trial of pirprofen. An initial dose of about 300 mg/m2/d (range 250-330) was gradually increased to a maximum of 600 mg/m2/d (range 413-761). The medication was provided as an aqueous suspension (10 mg/ml), and was given 4 times/d. Efficacy analysis showed significant decreases occurred in the DMS, travel time, grip strength, and the severity of swelling score (in all cases p less than 0.05 based on the paired Student t test, 2-tailed). Nineteen patients reported a total of 27 adverse experiences; 6 of which were attributable to pirprofen. At the study dosages used pirprofen seems to be very similar in efficacy and safety to other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs investigated in children with JRA.