Effects of celecoxib on hematoma and edema volumes in primary intracerebral hemorrhage: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Background and purpose We investigated the effect of celecoxib, a selective inhibitor of cyclo‐oxygenase 2, in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage ( ICH ). Methods We conducted a multicenter, randomized, controlled, and open with blinded end‐point trial of 44 Korean patients 18 years or older with ICH within 24 h of onset. The intervention group ( n  = 20) received celecoxib (400 mg twice a day) for 14 days. The control group ( n  = 24) received the standard medical treatment for ICH . The primary end‐point was the number of patients with a change in the volume of perihematomal edema ( PHE ) from the 1st to the 7th ± 1 day (cut‐off value, 20%). Results The time from onset to computed tomography scan slightly differed between groups (177 ± 160 min for control vs. 297 ± 305 min for the celecoxib group; P  = 0.10). In the primary end‐point analysis using cut‐off values, there was a significant shift to reduced expansion of PHE in the celecoxib group ( P  = 0.005). With respect to the secondary end‐points, there was also a significant shift to reduced expansion of ICH in the celecoxib group ( P  = 0.046). In addition, the expansion rate of PHE at follow‐up tended to be higher in the control group than in the celecoxib group (90.6 ± 91.7% vs. 44.4 ± 64.9%; P  = 0.058). Conclusions In our small, pilot trial, administration of celecoxib in the acute stage of ICH was associated with a smaller expansion of PHE than that observed in controls.