Annals of the rheumatic diseases
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To assess the efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for low back pain. ⋯ There are flaws in the design of most studies. The pooled odds ratio must be interpreted with caution because the trials at issue, including the high quality trials, did not use identical outcome measures. The results of the 26 randomised trials that have been carried out to date, suggest that NSAIDs might be effective for short-term symptomatic relief in patients with uncomplicated low back pain, but are less effective or ineffective in patients with low back pain with sciatica and patients with sciatica with nerve root symptoms.
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To determine how acute but transient inflammation affects the cartilage proteoglycan aggrecan and the value of analyses of synovial fluid to study this. ⋯ According to the aggrecan component measured, damage to the matrix of articular cartilage was sometimes reflected by a transient increased extractability and a net loss of aggrecan. There was always an increased release of GAG, and keratan sulphate, and 846 epitopes into synovial fluid. These studies show that changes in aggrecan epitopes and GAG in synovial fluid reflect changes in cartilage metabolism induced by acute transient inflammation.