Vol. 7, Issue 10 (2018)

Materials and Methods: Analgesia was studied in albino rats using formalin test and in albino mice using writhing test and in rats radiant heat method. For each test, four groups of six animals each were orally fed with a single dose of thiocolchicoside and ketoprofen, and combination of thiocolchicoside and ketoprofen and normal saline as control, respectively.

Results: In all the three test models, all three drug treatments showed significant analgesia (P<0.001) as compared to control, but there was a significant difference in the analgesia produced by combination of thiocolchicoside and ketoprofen. The radiant heat method, writhing test and formalin test demonstrated a quicker onset of action with thiocolchicoside and ketoprofen alone, but greater degree of analgesia (synergism) was seen with the combination of drugs than individual drugs, though this difference was a statistically significant.

Conclusions: Combination of thiocolchicoside and ketoprofen offers advantage over thiocolchicoside and ketoprofen alone, either in terms of degree of analgesia or onset of action. Therefore, our study supports the reports claiming rationality of the fixed dose combination of thiocolchicoside and ketoprofen.