Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain due to soft tissue injury: diclofenac epolamine topical patch.

Of 37 placebo-controlled trials, 27 showed that the topical NSAID was significantly superior to placebo, and 9 additional studies showed a trend favoring the topical drug ( Figure 1 ). 27 Overall, the pooled relative benefit was 1.7 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5–1.9), and the number needed to treat (NNT) to achieve a successful outcome with topical NSAIDs was 3.9 (95% CI: 3.4–4.4).

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