Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation of the Efficacy of Oral Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs in Pain Management

OBJECTIVE  To construct and implement a scientific and standardized clinical comprehensive evaluation of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are extensively used in clinical settings, the findings of such evaluations are complemented, thereby offering references for the comprehensive assessment of other therapeutic agents.

METHODS  The Department of Pharmacy at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University served as the initiator, coordinating the assembly of pharmacy, clinical, and nursing experts from tertiary and secondary hospitals in Wenzhou to establish the "Wenzhou Drug Clinical Comprehensive Evaluation Group." Guided by national and provincial drug evaluation guidelines/consensus, supported by authoritative evidence-based medical literature, a comprehensive clinical evaluation system was constructed by a panel of 38 pharmaceutical, clinical, and nursing experts using the Delphi method. This panel provided scoring recommendations through seminars and interviews, and a comprehensive clinical evaluation was conducted on the pain management effects of 12 commonly used oral NSAIDs drugs.

RESULTS  The evaluation system employed a percentage-based system, with a more comprehensive evaluation dimension that considers the specific needs of hospitals at varying levels and experts from diverse disciplines. Drugs were scored quantitatively in six dimensions: efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness, accessibility, appropriateness, and innovation. The scoring results showed that the top 5 drugs in comprehensive evaluation are Celecoxib (Celebrex), Celecoxib (Homemade), Meloxicam (Mobic), Diclofenac Sodium (Imported), and Etoricoxib (Arcoxia).

CONCLUSION  This work is a supplement to the construction and results of the clinical comprehensive evaluation system for this type of drug, and it can provide guidance and decision-making basis for the clinical rational use of such drugs and the selection of listed drugs in medical institutions and provide reference for the construction of comprehensive evaluation systems for other drugs.