1Deptt of Orthopaedics, AIIMS, New Delhi - 11–29.
2Deptt. of Pharmeology, AIIMS, New Delhi - 11–29.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most commonly used drugs worldwide. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) due to NSAIDs can range from mild reactions like nausea and vomiting to severe and life threatening ones like upper gastrointestinal bleeding or peptic ulcer perforation. The incidence and pattern of ADRs to NSAIDs in India is unknown. In order to know this, the National Pharmacovigilance Centre, AIIMS conduced a study in the department of Orthopaedics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR). The study was conduced by the resident doctors from the department of pharmacology, national pharmacovigilance centre, AIIMS in association with the concerned departments through the method of intensive monitoring. 1232 patients were taken for the study out of which 145 patients had adverse drug reactions. Most of the newer COX-2 inhibitors like rofecoxib and celecoxib have dominated in our study. A significant number of patients have been prescribed fixed dose combination of NSAIDs. Use of older and conventional NSAIDs like indomethacin, piroxicam and naproxen still continues. Paracetamol has been used as the first line drug in the treatment of osteoarthritis and has the least ADRs as seen in our study.
