Public Health Implications
“Comparing diclofenac initiation with no NSAID initiation, the consistency between our results and those of previous meta-analyses of both trial and observational data provides strong evidence to guide clinical decision making,” said Dr. Schmidt and his coauthors.
“Considering its cardiovascular and gastrointestinal risks, however, there is little justification to initiate diclofenac treatment before other traditional NSAIDs,” noted the investigators. “It is time to acknowledge the potential health risk of diclofenac and to reduce its use.”
The study was funded by the Department of Clinical Epidemiology Research Foundation, University of Aarhus, and by the Program for Clinical Research Infrastructure, funded by the Lundbeck Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the Danish Research Council. The authors reported that they had no relevant conflicts of interest.
—Kari Oakes
Suggested Reading
Schmidt M, Sørensen HT, Pedersen L. Diclofenac use and cardiovascular risks: series of nationwide cohort studies. BMJ. 2018;362:k3426.
For expert commentary on this article, please visit our Migraine Resource Center online at https://www.mdedge.com/neurologyreviews/migraineresourcecenter/article/177937/headache-migraine/physician-commentary