Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Anti-inflammatory drugs, or nonnarcotic analgesics, are medications used to relieve pain by reversing the inflammatory process. This class of medicines includes the broad categories of steroid-based medications and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Through differing mechanisms, these drugs work to decrease the four cardinal signs of inflammation (heat, redness, swelling, pain, and loss of function) by interfering with a key chemical pathway that leads to inflammation. All anti-inflammatory drugs interfere in one way with this chemical pathway, and this leads to a decrease in the production of pro-inflammatory proteins called prostaglandins, including closely related compounds. These medications are used to treat mild to moderate pain, inflammation, and fever.