Study: Celebrex Less Likely to Cause Damage to Small Bowel

People with arthritis who use the drug Celebrexare are signficantly less likely to develop damage to their small bowel than those who use a combination of an earlier nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) like naproxen and an acid-reducing agent.

Celebrex is a COX-2 inhibitor approved for use in the United States to relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis and adult rheumatoid arthritis.

In reporting May 19 at Digestive Disease Week, an annual meeting of gastroenterologists in Orlando, researchers said they gave 338 participants between the ages of 18 and 70 either Celebrex or the combination of naproxen and omeprazole.

They found that arthritis sufferers given Celebrex had a nine-fold lower incidence of mucosal lesions in the small bowel than those taking the combination of drugs.

"These data extend our understanding of the gastrointestinal safety of celecoxib (Celebrex) beyond what is already known," said researcher Dr. Jay Goldstein, professor of medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Other sources: Pfizer Inc.