The popular COX-2 inhibitors such as Vioxx and Celebrex may not be the drugs of choice to treat pain associated with bone fractures. According to research published in the June 2002 Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, COX-2 pro-inflammatory activity seems to be required for fractured bones to heal. Researchers found that rats fed Vioxx and Celebrex had unhealed fractures at two months; any healing that did occur was a weak shell of bone.
COX-2 deficient rats also failed to heal broken bones normally.