Southern Orthopaedic Sports
Medicine, Providence Hospital Columbia, South Carolina,
USA.
Ankle sprain is a common acute soft-tissue
injury that often results in pain, inflammation, and
ecchymosis. In this multicenter, double-blind, randomized
parallel-group study, 445 adult patients received
Celecoxib 400 mg/day, ibuprofen 2,400 mg/day, or placebo
for 10 days. Patients had experienced grade 1 or 2
ankle sprains within 48 hours and had moderate to
severe ankle pain. Patient's Global Assessment of
Ankle Injury responses, given on days 4 and 8, showed
that the Celecoxib group improved significantly more
than the placebo group did, with 67% of the Celecoxib
group versus 55% of the placebo group improving at
day 4 (P < .05). Patient's Assessment of Ankle
Pain Visual Analog Scale on Weight Bearing responses,
also given on days 4 and 8, showed that Celecoxib
was as efficacious in the treatment of ankle sprain
as the maximum therapeutic dosage of ibuprofen and
that, compared with placebo, it reduced pain significantly
more (P < .05). The Celecoxib group recovered and
returned to function earlier (after 5 days) than did
either the placebo group (8 days) or the ibuprofen
group (6 days); the Celecoxib-placebo difference was
significant. Celecoxib, a cyclo-oxygenase-2-specific
inhibitor with platelet-function-sparing properties,
may be useful as a multimodal adjuvant in the treatment
of ankle sprain.
