Indomethacin treatment in osteoarthritis of the hip joint. Does the treatment interfere with the natural course of the disease?

Rønningen H, Langeland N · Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavica

Radiographic hip-OA progression was more frequent, and by one parameter more severe, in indomethacin-treated hips than untreated hips — an early 'analgesic arthropathy' signal.

Population

186 patients (294 hips) with hip osteoarthritis followed radiographically

Intervention

Indomethacin treatment (observed, not assigned)

Comparator

Hips of untreated patients

Limitations

Non-randomized 1970s series; confounding by indication is likely (worse hips get treated); retrospective radiographic assessment.