Clinical Test of Kebuzon versus Phenylbutazone in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Summary A double-blind test was carried out on 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the Rheumatic Hospital, Skælskør, Denmark. The same patients were treated with two drugs successively. Dosage: Kebuzon 750 mg. daily, phenylbutazone 600 mg. daily. Treatment period 6 weeks. Objective, clinical measurements of the inflammatory activity were done prior to the experiment and weekly during the experiment. At the same time, a check was kept upon the body weight, the Hb level, E. S. R., white cell count, thymol value, pathological components of the urine and urinary output, and feces for occult bleeding. The results show a clinical effect of Kebuzon entirely up to that of phenylbutazone. However, side effects were equally common with both drugs (occurring in 50 % of the cases). Gastric symptoms were observed in the same number of cases, but occult blood in the feces was less common on Kebuzon. The tendency to edema and to weight gain was greater with phenylbutazone. Kebuzon therapy has possibly caused a hepato-toxic effect in one case. It is assumed that the dosage of Kebuzon was too high. It seems justified to conclude from the experiment that the clinical effects of Kebuzon and phenylbutazone are entirely on a level, while Kebuzon shows less tendency to cause edema and probably also has a less marked ulcerogenic action. However, the dosage of Kebuzon should be lower than that used in this experiment.