Context

Use of topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain relief is widely controversial in analgesic practice.1 For the topical NSAIDs to have an effect on acute pain, the formulation has to penetrate the skin. The expected advantages of this type of administration are both potential minimisation of systemic side effects and increase of local effect. However, there is still debate on these potential advantages as there is continuous lack of significant positive results.2–4 A Cochrane review update was recently carried out to assess the effect of topical NSAIDs used for acute musculoskeletal pain in adults.5 This review aimed to strengthen conclusions on the efficacy and safety of topically applied NSAIDs in acute musculoskeletal pain in adults, adding recently published studies to the previous search.