Proglumetacin in the treatment of minor traumas and overuse syndromes due to soccer practice: A large open trial

Abstract

In an uncontrolled, open trial, 182 outpatients suffering from either overuse syndromes (n = 68) or minor traumas (n = 114) resulting from soccer practice received proglumetacin, a prodrug of indomethacin, for 10 days, at a dose of 600 mg/d from day 1 to day 5 and 450 mg/d from day 6 to day 10. After 2 days and at 5 and 10 days, a highly significant reduction in symptoms (pain, edema, redness, and local heat) and improvement of function were observed ( P < 0.001). The incidence of side effects (11.5%)—mainly gastrointestinal (9.3%)—was low, especially compared with that usually described for indomethacin. More than 50% of the patients who developed side effects were able to continue taking proglumetacin without any specific treatment for the adverse reactions. Seven patients (ie, 3.8% of all patients in the study) had to discontinue the treatment. For the treatment of sport injuries (both overuse syndromes and minor traumas) due to soccer practice, proglumetacin appears to be a safe, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compound that is associated with a reduction in pain, edema, redness, and local heat, and improvement in function in treated patients.