title: Analgesic efficacy of zomepirac sodium in patients with pain due to cancer.
abstract: In a single-dose, a double-blind crossover study in 40 patients with chronic pain due to advanced cancer, zomepirac sodium (Zomax), a new, single-entity, non-narcotic analgesic, was compared to oxycodone with APC (Percodan) and placebo. Both a verbal and a curvilinear visual analog scale were used in the study, and the results obtained were comparable. Zomepirac sodium, 100 mg, provided analgesia equal to oxycodone with APC in all assessments of pain intensity and pain relief. The analgesic activity of zomepirac sodium was apparent by 1 hour, reached a peak between 3 and 4 hours after administration, and lasted at least 6 hours. Zomepirac sodium, 100 mg, appears to be an acceptable alternative to narcotic combinations such as oxycodone with APC in the management of moderate to severe cancer pain. The visual analog scale presented appears to be useful in the evaluation of analgesic efficacy and appears to be acceptable as an alternative to the more conventional verbal scale.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002110:Caffeine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004338:Drug Combinations / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D010098:Oxycodone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010615:Phenacetin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014046:Tolmetin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D004338:Drug Combinations; D011758:Pyrroles; D002110:Caffeine; C025153:Aspirin-oxycodone hydrochloride-oxycodone terephthalate combination; C020549:zomepirac; D010098:Oxycodone; D014046:Tolmetin; D010615:Phenacetin; D001241:Aspirin