Trial reportBMC musculoskeletal disorders2005
Treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee with a topical diclofenac solution: a randomised controlled, 6-week trial [ISRCTN53366886].
Trial report in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 35 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Efficacy of PENNSAID® for Pain Management in the Emergency Department
The Use of Cannabinoid Patch for Knee Osteoarthritis
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 103 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and safety of different topical diclofenac formulations for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis of short-term and long-term treatment comparisons.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Drug-related Halitosis: A Systematic Review.Oral health & preventive dentistry · 2020Pooled it
- Topical Diclofenac Solution for Osteoarthritis of the Knee: An Updated Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.BioMed research international · 2020Pooled it
- Safety of Topical Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in Osteoarthritis: Outcomes of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Drugs & aging · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Relative efficacy and safety of topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for osteoarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies.British journal of sports medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Topical diclofenac therapy for osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Clinical rheumatology · 2016Pooled it
- Topical NSAIDs for chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Topical NSAIDs for chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Adverse effects of topical nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs in older adults with osteoarthritis: a systematic literature review.The Journal of rheumatology · 2010Pooled it
- Osteoarthritis of the knee.BMJ clinical evidence · 2007Pooled it
- Trial
- Consensus Guidelines on Interventional Therapies for Knee Pain (STEP Guidelines) from the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience.Journal of pain research · 2022Review
- Evaluation of efficacy and safety of a novel lipogel containing diclofenac: A randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind clinical trial in patients with signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2020Article
- A Narrative Review: The Use of the Topical NSAID Ibuprofen for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis. Supporting Clinician Decision-Making in the First-Line Treatment of Osteoarthritis.Rehabilitation process and outcome · 2020Review
- Article
- The relative efficacy of topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and capsaicin in osteoarthritis: a network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Osteoarthritis and cartilage · 2018Review
- Significant pain variability in persons with, or at high risk of, knee osteoarthritis: preliminary investigation based on secondary analysis of cohort data.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Article
- Changes in pain and concurrent pain medication use following compounded topical analgesic treatment for chronic pain: 3- and 6-month follow-up results from the prospective, observational Optimizing Patient Experience and Response to Topical Analgesics study.Journal of pain research · 2017Article
- Is there any role for topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of mild to moderate musculoskeletal pain in a Lebanese community pharmacy?SpringerPlus · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTopical NSAIDs have been proven to relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis (OA) in short-term studies (2 weeks). To justify its chronic use, efficacy of a topical NSAID over a longer term of study should be demonstrated. The efficacy and safety of a topical diclofenac solution over a 6-week treatment course in symptomatic primary OA of the knee was investigated.
methods216 men and women, age 40-85 years, with radiologically confirmed primary OA of the knee and a flare of pain at baseline following discontinuation of prior therapy were enrolled into this double-blind study. Participants applied either a topical diclofenac solution (Pennsaid) or vehicle control solution (carrier with no diclofenac); 40 drops 4 times daily directly to the painful knee(s), without massage, for 6 weeks. Pre-planned primary efficacy outcome measures included the core continuous variables pain relief and improved physical function measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) LK3.1 OA Index, and improved patient global assessment (PGA). Secondary efficacy measure was reduced stiffness. Safety assessments included adverse events and vital signs.
resultsThe topical diclofenac group had a significantly greater mean change in score (final minus baseline) compared to the vehicle control group for pain (-5.2 vs. -3.3, p = 0.003), physical function (-13.4 vs. -6.9, p = 0.001), PGA (-1.3 vs. -0.7, p = 0.0001) and stiffness (-1.8 vs. -0.9, p = 0.002). The mean difference between treatment arms (95% confidence interval [CI]) was 1.9 (0.7 to 3.2), 6.5 (2.5 to 10.5), 0.6 (0.2 to 0.9), and 0.9 (0.3 to 1.4), respectively. Safety analyses showed that topical diclofenac caused skin irritation, mostly minor local skin dryness, in 42/107 (39%), leading to discontinuation of treatment in 5/107 (5%) participants.
conclusionThis topical diclofenac solution demonstrated relief at 6 weeks of the symptoms of primary osteoarthritis of the knee.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.