DOI: 10.36347/sajp.2020.v09i05.002

Pages: 163-167

Background: Sulfasalazine is recently considered to be a valuable drug in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The objective of this study is to examine the efficacy and toxicity of sulfasalazine alone or in combination with meloxicam in the treatment of moderate to severe RA. Methods: This study is a 3-month retrospective observational study. The study was carried out in the Royal Rehabilitation Center at the Royal Medical Services (RMS) in Jordan/Amman. Patients with moderate to severe RA (classified according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria) will be randomly allocated into two groups: Group I: receiving Sulfasalazine 500mg twice daily orally. Group II: receiving Sulfasalazine plus Meloxicam 15 mg tablets once daily. Clinical assessment will include pain assessment (using 11-point numerical rating scale), laboratory results and monitoring of undesirable effects and radiological evaluation. Data will be accessed through revision of patient’s medical profiles and Hakeem data base. Results: Statistically significant reduction in all scores of the measured clinical parameters at baseline and after 12 weeks of administration of sulfasalazine in both groups by the end of 12 weeks treatment duration (P < 0.05). The average of total progress in the clinical and laboratory readings revealed that sulfasalazine alone or when combined with meloxicam lead to around total proportion of progress ranging from 24.5% to 28.4% after 12 weeks of administration of anti-rheumatic drugs. Sulfasalazine had led to a reduction symptoms severity by 44.8%. This reduction is augmented to 66.2% when sulfasalazine is combined with meloxicam. Conclusion: Sulfasalazine administration for 12 weeks caused significant improvement in clinical parameters, including the number of swollen joints and the level joint pain. Meloxicam when administered with sulfasalazine, produce improvement in the effect noted by sulfasalazine. Meloxicam should be favorably given to...........