Table 1: Medication groups in 35 hands.

Medication group* Examples (no. of patients)** Total no. of hands per group Medication continued No. of wound breakdowns No. of wound infections NSAIDS Diclofenac (6), ibuprofen (4), flurbiprofen (1), indomethacin (2), naproxen (6), nabumetone (1) 20 Yes 0 1 Cox-2 Inhibitors Celecoxib, rofecoxib 0 — — — Steroids Prednisolone 8 Yes 0 0 Biologics Etanercept (4) 4 No 0 0 Noncytotoxic DMARDs Gold (1), hydroxychloroquine (2), sulfasalazine (8) 11 Yes 0 1 Cytotoxic DMARDs Leflunomide (1), methotrexate (20), azathioprine (3) 24 Yes 0 1 Anticoagulants Warfarin, heparin 0 — — — Aspirin*** Dose 75–300 mg daily 5 Yes 0 0 No medication   2 — 0 0

Key: NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Cox-2: cyclo-oxygenase 2 inhibitors, DMARDs: disease modifying antirheumatic drugs. *General analgesics excluded, for example, paracetamol, nefopam, codeine, morphine. **Some patients were taking more than one medication in a group. ***Aspirin was used for cardiovascular risk reduction (75–300 mg) rather than analgesia/anti-inflammatory.