Results : This systematic review will provide a detailed summary of present evidence related to the efficacy and safety  of etoricoxib for patients with AS .
Conclusion : The results of this study may provide management guidance for AS treated by etoricoxib .
Background : Previous clinical trials have reported that etoricoxib has been utilized to treat ankylosing spondylitis ( AS ) effectively .
However , no study systematic ally investigated the efficacy and safety of etoricoxib for patients with AS .
In this systematic review , we will assess the efficacy and safety of etoricoxib for AS .
Longitudinal Numbers-Needed-To-Treat (NNT) for Achieving Various Levels of Analgesic Response and Improvement with Etoricoxib, Naproxen, and Placebo in Ankylosing Spondylitis
Background Clinical analgesic trials typically report response as group mean results . However , research has shown that few patients are average and most have responses at the extremes . Moreover , group mean results do not convey response levels and thus have limited value in representing the benefit-risk at an individual level . Responder analyses and numbers-needed-to-treat ( NNT ) are considered more relevant for evaluating treatment response . We evaluated levels of analgesic response and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index ( BASDAI ) score improvement and the associated NNTs . Methods This was a post-hoc analysis of a 6-week , r and omized , double-blind study ( N = 387 ) comparing etoricoxib 90 mg , etoricoxib 120 mg , naproxen 1000 mg , and placebo in AS . Spine pain and BASDAI were measured on a 100-mm visual analog scale . The number and percentage of patients achieving ≥30 % and ≥50 % improvement in both BASDAI and spine pain were calculated and used to determine the corresponding NNTs . Patients who discontinued from the study for any reason were assigned zero improvement beyond 7 days of the time of discontinuation . Results For etoricoxib 90 mg , etoricoxib 120 mg and naproxen 1000 mg , the NNTs at 6 weeks compared with placebo were 2.0 , 2.0 , and 2.7 respectively for BASDAI ≥30 % improvement , and 3.2 , 2.8 , and 4.1 for ≥50 % improvement . For spine pain , the NNTs were 1.9 , 2.0 , and 3.2 , respectively , for ≥30 % improvement , and 2.7 , 2.5 , and 3.7 for ≥50 % improvement . The differences between etoricoxib and naproxen exceeded the limit of ±0.5 units described as a clinical ly meaningful difference for pain . Response rates and NNTs were generally similar and stable over 2 , 4 , and 6 weeks . Conclusions For every 2 patients treated with etoricoxib , 1 achieved a clinical ly meaningful ( ≥30 % ) improvement in spine pain and BASDAI beyond that expected from placebo , whereas the corresponding values were approximately 1 in every 3 patients treated with naproxen . Use of NNTs and responder analyses provide additional , complementary information beyond population mean responses when assessing efficacy compared to placebo and amongst active therapies
Results : This systematic review will provide a detailed summary of present evidence related to the efficacy and safety  of etoricoxib for patients with AS .
Conclusion : The results of this study may provide management guidance for AS treated by etoricoxib .
Background : Previous clinical trials have reported that etoricoxib has been utilized to treat ankylosing spondylitis ( AS ) effectively .
However , no study systematic ally investigated the efficacy and safety of etoricoxib for patients with AS .
In this systematic review , we will assess the efficacy and safety of etoricoxib for AS .