Gout is characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, redness and tenderness in joints, often the joint at the base of the big toe. Treatment without prophylaxis, Etoricoxib and colchicine used in the urate-lowering therapy (ULT) are competitive for preventing acute gout flares. This study has put light on the effectiveness and safety of etoricoxib as compared to colchicine.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety associated with treatment available to prevent an acute attack of gout when initiating a urate-lowering therapy (ULT).

We retrospectively reviewed patients who were diagnosed with gout and treated with ULT during the period from January 2000 to January 2014. They were divided into three groups, 75 patients without prophylaxis treatment, 103 patients treated with etoricoxib, and 129 patients with colchicine treatment. Both demographic and clinical characteristics associated with gout were analyzed. At baseline, demographic and clinical characteristics were generally similar in three groups. SU target level was achieved in 49.3% of the patients without prophylaxis treatment, 66.4% in the etoricoxib group and 65.1% in colchicine group, respectively.

During the first 16 weeks, patients without prophylaxis treatment exhibited higher flare rates than patients in other two groups. However, no statistically significant difference was observed between patients in etoricoxib group and colchicine group. In the 16-24 weeks, the proportion of patients who reported flares were all decreased similarly in three groups. The mean number of acute gout flares per patient and gout flare days per patient was significantly higher in patients without prophylaxis treatment than patients in other groups. The mean number of acute gout flares was lower (4.2±2.3 vs 3.2±1.8) in patients with etoricoxib treatment than that in patients with colchicine treatment. Gout flare days per patient were significantly higher in patients without prophylaxis treatment. Compared to colchicine group, gout flare days per patient in etoricoxib were lower (1.2±0.5 vs 2.6±0.6). In term of AEs, patients receiving colchicine had higher rates of gastrointestinal AEs than those who received etoricoxib.

In summary, our survey revealed that etoricoxib was more effective and safe than colchicine in preventing acute attack during ULT.