Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the perioperative administration of rofecoxib for total knee arthroplasty.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) frequently are discontinued before elective total knee arthroplasty (TKA) because of the increased incidence of perioperative bleeding. Rofecoxib, a selective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitor, does not interfere with the coagulation system and may be a safer NSAID for patients undergoing TKA. In this study, 100 patients undergoing elective TKA discontinued their use of NSAIDs 10 days before surgery and were assigned randomly to receive either placebo (n = 50) or rofecoxib (n = 50), 25 mg daily for 5 consecutive days starting 3 days before surgery. The administration of rofecoxib resulted in improved preoperative pain scores and no significant increase in the incidence of perioperative bleeding or international normalized ratio compared with placebo. Rofecoxib does not need to be discontinued before elective TKA.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes