Adding INSAIDs to Plaster Casting Eases Ankle Sprain Pain

Adding 70mg of etofenamate plaster can deliver effective pain relief from an acute uncomplicated ankle sprain, according to a newly published study.

In “Efficacy and Safety of an Etofenamate Medicated Plaster for Acute Ankle Sprain: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” published on August 12, 2021 in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers wanted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the pain relief treatment.

“The favorable benefit-risk profile of topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) makes them a preferred treatment for pain relief in soft tissue injuries,” they wrote.

The randomized controlled trial enrolled 156 adult patients with grade 1 or 2 ankle sprain. The patients were randomized to either etofenamate or placebo which were applied twice a day for 7 days. The researcher measured ankle pain on movement in mm on a 100-mm visual analog scale.

The mean age of the patients was 35.3 ±11.8 years. The fall in Visual Analog Scale values for ankle pain on movement from baseline to 72 hours was superior in the etofenamate plaster group (52.7% vs. 24.0% (least squares mean treatment difference, 22.1 mm; p value for analysis of covariance < .0001).

The clinical differences between the two groups were seen at the 48-, 96-, and 168-hour visits (p < .0001). Time taken to achieve a meaningful (30%) and optimal (50%) reduction of ankle pain on movement was significantly shorter in the etofenamate group.

The responder rate (proportion of patients with at least 50% pain reduction at 72 hours) was 52.5% for the etofenamate plaster and 7.7% for the placebo.

The researchers wrote, “A significantly greater proportion of patients randomized to etofenamate rated their progress and/or treatment as ‘good’ or ‘very good.’ The medicated plasters adhered well over the 12-hour dosing period and were very well-tolerated.”

“With respect to the investigated indication, uncomplicated ankle sprain, the etofenamate plaster has therapeutic efficacy that is similar to that for the best available topical NSAID formulations.”