Table 6.

Incidence of abnormal liver enzymes

	Diclofenac topical solution (n = 465)	Oral diclofenac (n = 462)	P value
Any abnormality, n (%)
ALT
Baseline	50 (10.9)	43 (9.5)	0.46*
End of study	44 (10.4)	93 (22.2)	<0.0001*
AST
Baseline	40 (8.7)	29 (6.4)	0.18*
End of study	30 (7.0)	61 (14.6)	0.0004*
GGT
Baseline	108 (23.6)	106 (23.2)	0.90*
End of study	90 (21.1)	140 (33.4)	<0.0001*
Clinically significant abnormalities, n (%)
ALT
Baseline	4 (0.9)	3 (0.7)	>0.99†
End of study	5 (1.2)	17 (4.1)	0.009*
AST
Baseline	3 (0.7)	1 (0.2)	0.62†
End of study	3 (0.7)	6 (1.4)	0.34†
GGT
Baseline	14 (3.1)	10 (2.2)	0.41*
End of study	18 (4.2)	22 (5.3)	0.48*

Notes:

^*From Chi-square test;

^†From Fisher’s exact test.

Abbreviations: ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; GGT, γ-glutamyltransferase.