A patch containing the local anesthetic lidocaine appears to be as effective as the painkiller Celebrex for treating painful Osteoarthritis in the knee researchers reported at the American Pain Society Meeting in Boston.

Dr. Alan J. Kivitz, with the Altoona Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center in Duncansville, Pennsylvania, and colleagues randomly assigned 143 patients to the lidocaine patch, known as Lidoderm, or to take Celebrex.

Patches were applied once daily to one or both knees, a full patch on the front of the joint and a third of a patch on the back, Kivitz told Reuters Health.

After 12 weeks, 71 percent of those in the Lidoderm group and 72 percent in the celecoxib group experienced a 30 percent or greater improvement in average daily pain intensity.

“These results are encouraging and would indicate that additional trials for Lidoderm for knee Osteoarthritis would be appropriate,” Kivitz said.

“The whole idea is to have choices available,” he continued, “so if we try something that is not efficacious or tolerated by one patient, then it’s nice to able to try another option, because every patient will respond differently.”

He commented, “The key is to individualize a treatment to find the best intervention for that particular patient, and the more choices sometimes the better.”

Lidoderm is currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of nerve pain resulting from shingles.

Kivitz noted that he is prescribing Lidoderm for some of his patients, “but generally speaking, third party insurance carriers will not cover something being used off-label (for an unapproved use), so obtaining additional studies that prove safety and efficacy are very important.”

Such trials, as well as studies evaluating Lidoderm’s safety and efficacy in treating lower back pain, are already underway, he added.