Clinical drug investigation
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Double-blind comparison of escitalopram and duloxetine in the acute treatment of major depressive disorder.
Escitalopram is the most selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant; in contrast, duloxetine inhibits both serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake. Double-blind comparison studies may help guide treatment decisions by revealing the relative benefits of different therapeutic approaches. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of escitalopram versus duloxetine in the acute treatment of patients with moderate to severe major depressive disorder. ⋯ These findings suggest that escitalopram is better tolerated and at least as effective as the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor duloxetine in the treatment of major depressive disorder.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
A multicentre, randomised, double-blind study comparing the efficacy and tolerability of intramuscular dexketoprofen versus diclofenac in the symptomatic treatment of acute low back pain.
Low back pain is an important medical problem in Western industrialised countries. NSAIDs are one of the main options for symptomatic pain relief in the early management of this painful condition. Dexketoprofen is an NSAID belonging to the arylpropionic acid group that has demonstrated good analgesic efficacy and a good safety profile in different acute and chronic painful conditions. ⋯ From the results of this study it can be concluded that dexketoprofen 50mg administered twice daily intramuscularly provides a clinically relevant analgesic effect with good tolerability after single and repeated doses in patients with acute severe low back pain.
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The aim of this study was to determine health resource consumption and costs in patients with neuropathic pain managed in pain clinics in Spain. ⋯ Neuropathic pain results in a substantial utilisation of health resources, particularly by patients referred by primary-care/other specialists to pain clinics for pain control. However, compared with subjects whose pain is primarily managed in pain clinics, the extra health costs arising from drug acquisition observed in such patients are offset by lower costs of the other components of pain management, producing similar mean monthly total costs.
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Comparative Study
Medical costs of chronic musculoskeletal pain in Italy.
Musculoskeletal system problems are responsible for more than two-thirds of painful conditions in primary care. However, only one published study, conducted in Finland, has analysed the costs of managing musculoskeletal pain as a whole in primary care. This study analysed the costs of diagnosing and treating chronic musculoskeletal pain in primary care in Italy. A secondary aim of the study was to assess the impact of different drug treatment patterns on medical costs associated with musculoskeletal pain. ⋯ The analysis showed that the annual average cost of treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain in Italy varied considerably depending on whether drug treatment was used. COX-2 inhibitors and traditional NSAIDs had similar per-patient costs, although this similarity stemmed from a different mix of components.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Antihypertensive efficacy and safety of manidipine versus amlodipine in elderly subjects with isolated systolic hypertension: MAISH study.
Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) affects 10-20% of the elderly population and is strongly related to the risk of cardiovascular events. Elevated systolic BP values are primarily caused by reduced large vessel compliance with a consequent increase in total peripheral resistance. Vasodilating drugs, such as calcium channel antagonists, have proven to be effective in controlling ISH in elderly patients. This study set out to compare the antihypertensive efficacy and safety of two different calcium channel antagonists, manidipine and amlodipine, administered once daily in elderly subjects with ISH. ⋯ In elderly patients with ISH, treatment with manidipine for 12 weeks was well tolerated and effective and the antihypertensive effects obtained with manidipine were the same as those obtained with amlodipine.