Celecoxib versus indomethacin as prevention of arthrofibrosis. A perspective case-control study

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) remain the most commonly utilised prophylaxis to reduce arthrofibrosis (AF) related to the inflammatory response which leads to a pathological condition called arthrofibrosis. Several NSAIDs have shown to be effective, although postoperative indomethacin has been the historical gold standard. More recently, credit has been given to the use of COX-2 selective inhibitors, due to concerns over gastrointestinal effects, as peptic ulcers, with non-selective COX. However, to date, few studies have compared the therapeutic effects of the two drugs. The aim of this study is to compare the postoperative administration of indomethacin and celecoxib in patients with diagnosis of AF treated with arthroscopic lysis and evaluate joint recovery. In this prospective study, 42 patients were diagnosed with hip, knee and elbow residual AF. The inclusion criteria were age > 18 years and a diagnosis of residual AF, following exposure to a previous traumatic event or surgical treatment; exclusion criteria were patients with < 18 years, BMI > 35 or < 18 kg/m2, affected by peripherical neuropathies and presence of heavy functional limitations, active infection, complex regional pain syndrome diagnoses. All patients underwent to arthroscopy, operated by a single surgeon with the same team in the same clinic and postoperatively were randomly divided into two groups, one treated with indomethacin, and the other with celecoxib. Of the patients examined, the following parameter was considered: joint range of motion (ROM) preintervention and post-intervention at 3 months and after 12 months. ROM was analysed with Student t test. The comparison of the ROM between both the 3 months postoperative groups has been shown to be not statistically significant. On the other hand, after 1 year, t-Student test referred to preoperative condition was significantly in favour of the group treated with celecoxib (p = 0.02). Lastly, neither celecoxib nor indomethacin showed any gastrointestinal side effects.