Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, Vol 87, Issue 10 460-465, Copyright © 1997 by American Podiatric Medical Association

HISTORICAL ARTICLE

1997 William J. Stickel Silver Award. The anti-inflammatory action of locally injected ketorolac

JW Brook, A Boike, RL Zema, M Weaver and P Postak
Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.

Locally injected steroids are used to treat inflammatory conditions, in spite of the complications associated with their use. Ketorolac tromethamine, an injectable nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, has not previously been evaluated for treatment of musculoskeletal inflammatory conditions via local administration. Eighty Achilles tendons of rabbits were traumatized in a controlled fashion. At the time of trauma, a single dose of ketorolac (1, 3, or 5 mg/kg) or normal saline was administered peritendinously. Three days later, the tendons were harvested and examined histologically to evaluate the degree of inflammation present in the tissue. No statistically significant difference was found between the experimental and control groups. The authors conclude that locally injected ketorolac does not prevent the onset of an inflammatory process.