A four-week open study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of droxicam, a new NSAID, in the treatment of painful osteoarthritis (OA). The results were compared with those obtained treating a similar group of patients with tenoxicam, at the same dosage of 20 mg/day, orally administered. The study showed that both drugs are effective in treating OA, with a mild predominance of droxicam in decreasing pain, functional limitation and chronic inability score. Tolerability was excellent or good in over 70% of patients and only one subject of each group was dropped out for severe side-effects. According to the Authors droxicam has shown to be an effective analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent as judged by its efficacy on pain relief and joint mobility in OA.