The study was performed to evaluate the analgesic efficacy, safety, and tolerability of valdecoxib 20 mg twice daily (BID), valdecoxib 40 mg once daily (QD), and placebo in patients with moderately to severely painful symptomatic sore throat over a 24-hour period. In addition, the study was to validate a new scale and criteria for measuring pain in sore throat and evaluate the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and past sore throat pain on pain score and efficacy of analgesics. The study also examined what type of medications are commonly used for sore throat and whether this information has relevance to analgesic efficacy.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Included patients had moderate to severe pain, as measured by the Sore Throat Pain Intensity Scale (STPIS) on swallowing ≥66 mm on a 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS) and a minimum of 4 points on the 10-point Tonsillo-Pharyngitis Score (TPS) but who were not coughing or experiencing any evidence of mouth-breathing.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who used throat lozenges, throat spray, cough drops or menthol-containing products within 2 hours, short-acting analgesics/antipyretics (eg, ibuprofen) or any form of cold medication within 8 hours, antibiotics for acute disease within 24 hours of first dose of study medication, or presumed diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis, known allergy or hypersensitivity to NSAIDs, COX-2 specific inhibitors, sulfonamides, or acetaminophen were excluded.