Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female aged 18 years or above
• The patient has rheumatoid arthritis, as defined by the American Rheumatism Association.
• Assessment of overall pain (by the patient), after a washout for NSAID of at least 2 days (3 days for oxicams), must exceed 40 mm on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS)
• Symptoms of RA requiring administration of NSAIDs
• Outpatients
• Willingness and ability to provide written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known or suspected hypersensitivity to the trial drugs or their excipients, analgesics, antipyretics or NSAIDs
• Any clinical evidence of active peptic ulceration during the previous 6 months
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding (precaution: attention should be drawn to reports that NSAIDs were reported to decrease the effectivity of intrauterine devices)
• Asthma, nasal polyps, angioneurotic oedema or urticaria following the administration of aspirin or NSAIDs
• Concomitant treatment with anti-coagulants (including heparin), lithium
• Concomitant administration of other NSAIDs or analgesic agents (except paracetamol up to 4g/day)
• Administration of any NSAID during the last 2 days (3 days for any oxicam) prior to the first administration of the trial drug
• Concomitant treatment with methotrexate, sulfasalazine, D-penicillamine, chloroquine or any other disease modifying antirheumatic drug initiated or with an altered dose over the previous 3 months
• Concomitant treatment with an oral corticosteroid initiated or with an altered dose over the previous month
• Parenteral or intraarticular administration of corticosteroids in the previous month
• Any i.m. injection during the previous 7 days
• Synovectomy and/or surgical treatment for RA in the previous month or during the trial
• Any physiotherapy which will be changed during the trial
• Any contra-indication to i.m. injections
• Clinical evidence of or known severe cardiac, hepatic, renal, metabolic, haematological disease, mental disturbance, ulcerative colitis
• Any other rheumatological or non-rheumatological disease that could interfere with the evaluation of efficacy and safety
• Serum creatinine 125 % of the upper limit of normal range ; aspartate amino-transferase (AST/SGOT) and/or alaline amino-transferase (ALT/SGPT) 200 % of the upper limit of normal range
• Platelet count < 100,000/mm3 ; leucocytes count < 3,000/mm3
• Participation in another clinical trial during this study or during the previous month
• Previous participation in this trial (i.e. having been allocated a randomized treatment number)
• Patient unable to comply with the protocol