Use of a celecoxib composition for fast pain relief

The present invention relates to new uses of certain orally deliverable pharmaceutical formulations containing the selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitory drug celecoxib, for fast relief of pain, and for manufacture of medicaments useful in treatment of pain. There is provided a method of rapidly relieving pain in a mammalian, preferably human, subject. The method comprises orally administering to the subject an effective pain-relieving amount of a composition comprising celecoxib formulated in such a way as to provide, when tested in fasting humans in accordance with standard pharmacokinetic practice, a blood plasma concentration profile of celecoxib in which a concentration of about 250 ng/ml is attained not later than about 30 minutes after oral administration.