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Which patients are prescribed COX-2 inhibitors rather than nonspecific anti-inflammatory drugs?

April 26, 2017anti-inflammatory cox-2 drugs Inhibitors nonspecific Patients prescribed

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Which patients are prescribed COX-2 inhibitors rather than nonspecific anti-inflammatory drugs?

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Katie Paddon, BPharm (Hons), is pre-registration pharmacist, Pharmacy Department, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Queensland. Bruce Green, BPharm (Hons), MSc, DClinPharm, is Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) including cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) specific inhibitors are commonly prescribed by general practitioners. One of their principal side effects is gastrointestinal (GI) ulceration. Early data suggested COX-2 inhibitors had fewer GI side effects compared to NSAIDs, and were therefore recommended for patients at risk of adverse GI events. However, industry sponsorship of guidelines, together with only short term evaluation of side effects, overestimated COX-2 inhibitor superiority.