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A meta-analysis of 74 randomized trials with a total of 58,556 patients was recently published in the Lancet that looked at the effectiveness of NSAIDs in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) pain.
Briefly, their conclusion was that:
- Acetaminophen is ineffective as a single-agent in the treatment of OA.
- Diclofenac 150 mg/day had best evidence to support it as the most effective NSAID available presently with respective to its effectiveness in relieving pain and improving function.
- They found no evidence that treatment effects varied over the duration of treatment ( no tolerance)
You can find the article here http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2816%2930002-2/abstract
References
da Costa, Bruno R, Stephan Reichenbach, Noah Keller, Linda Nartey, Simon Wandel, Peter Jüni, and Sven Trelle. “Effectiveness of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs for the Treatment of Pain in Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis: A Network Meta-Analysis.” The Lancet. Accessed March 21, 2016. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30002-2.