FDA Adverse Events Reports (FAERS) Summary for VOLTAREN
These tables and charts are based on 71,321 total reports for VOLTAREN (DICLOFENAC SODIUM) received by the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from 2004 through July 30, 2026.
This FAERS total includes 70,496 pharmaceutical company-submitted and non-U.S. FAERS reports and 825 U.S. consumer or healthcare provider-submitted
MedWatch reports. Adverse events listed on this page represent serious and sometimes rare adverse events
reported to pharmaceutical companies, and often do not represent typical side
effects for the medication. Find common side effects in the most recent
official drug label.
For a separate summary of the 825 U.S. reports
filed via the FDA MedWatch voluntary reporting system, view our FDA MedWatch VOLTAREN summary report.
(See notes section below for explanation of FDA’s mandatory and voluntary reporting system.)
Top 20 Adverse Effects Associated with VOLTAREN (reported in FAERS Database) Latest Known Outcomes for Reactions Reported for VOLTAREN
Based on 29838 reports that included a patient age.
Side Effect # of FDA Reports 1 DRUG INEFFECTIVE 16962 2 PRODUCT USE IN UNAPPROVED INDICATION 9802 3 DRUG EFFECTIVE FOR UNAPPROVED INDICATION 6709 4 PRODUCT ADMINISTERED AT INAPPROPRIATE SITE 6454 5 OFF LABEL USE 5256 6 PRODUCT USE ISSUE 4161 7 PAIN 3217 8 NAUSEA 2662 9 FATIGUE 2531 10 JOINT PAIN 2499 11 RASH 2201 12 HEADACHE 2075 13 DIARRHEA 2069 14 SHORTNESS OF BREATH 2041 15 DRUG ADMINISTERED AT INAPPROPRIATE SITE 2033 16 WRONG TECHNIQUE IN PRODUCT USAGE PROCESS 1923 17 DIZZINESS 1913 18 VOMITING 1839 19 PAIN IN EXTREMITY 1793 20 DRUG EFFECT INCREASED 1763 Latest Known Outcome for Reported Reactions Number of Cases 1 Unknown Outcome 51802 2 Patient recovered 8557 3 Patient has not recovered/symtoms have not resolved 7958 4 Patient is recovering/symptoms resolving 4667 5 Patient died 2837 6 Patient has recovered but has consequent health issues 285 Yearly FDA Adverse Event Reports (Table)
Year Number of Reports 2001 1 2002 2 2003 2 2004 723 2005 695 2006 700 2007 785 2008 821 2009 1071 2010 1146 2011 1329 2012 1734 2013 1454 2014 1653 2015 3096 2016 4092 2017 2938 2018 2652 2019 2649 2020 9438 2021 12948 2022 5777 2023 6769 2024 4558 2025 3267 2026 1021 Reports by Patient Age Group (Table)
Age Group Number of Reports 0-10 229 11-20 355 21-30 726 31-40 1832 41-50 3630 51-60 5079 61-70 6704 71-80 6747 81-90 3826 91+ 710
VOLTAREN Total Reports
| Male | Female | Unknown | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15722 | 32519 | 23080 | 71,321 |
Top Countries Reporting
| Country | Number of Reports | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 50409 |
| 2 | Canada | 4396 |
| 3 | Japan | 2226 |
| 4 | Germany | 993 |
| 5 | Italy | 744 |
| 6 | France | 343 |
| 7 | Australia | 323 |
| 8 | China | 309 |
| 9 | Puerto Rico | 257 |
| 10 | Singapore | 252 |
Outcomes for Reports
Serious: 27279
Not Serious: 43978
Note: A serious outcome means the adverse event resulted in death, a life threatening condition, hospitalization, disability, congenital anomaly, or other serious condition.
| Top Indications | |
| Product used for unknown indication | |
| Arthritis | |
| JOINT PAIN | |
| Pain | |
| Back pain | |
Top Companies Reporting
| Haleon PLC | |
| SANDOZ | |
| Haleon PLC | |
FDA Approval Date: 1988-07-28 VOLTAREN (DICLOFENAC SODIUM) Rx Drug: For serious adverse events, report them to the FDA by contacting the drug manufacturer or report directly through the
MedWatch voluntary reporting form.
Events listed on this page represent serious and often rare adverse events
reported to pharmaceutical companies, and do not represent typical side
effects for the medication. Find common side effects on the most recent
official drug label
This report, created by AskaPatient.com, is derived from the cases for VOLTAREN reported to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and
obtained from Open FDA. Data was last
updated with reports received through July 30, 2026.
Adverse Event Reports are submitted to the FAERS database by pharmaceutical companies (mandatory reporting is required by manufacturers, distributors, or importers).
Health care providers such as doctors (voluntary reporting), and patients themselves (voluntary reporting)
report to the FDA directly through the MedWatch program. Those MedWatch
reports are coded and included in the FAERS database. This report mainly
consists of the mandatory reports, because the MedWatch reports are a small
percentage (3 - 5%) of total reports. Link to the MedWatch summary report at
the top of the page for a summary of the directly reported
(voluntary) adverse events for this drug.The number of reports included here might differ
somewhat from the number of reports in the downloadable quarterly FAERS
reports and in the online FAERS dashboard, due to lags in reporting, drug
name differences,
duplicates, and other factors. Open FDA states that it only includes the
most recent version of a case report. It also adds the disclaimer:
"Do not rely on openFDA to make
decisions regarding medical care. While we make every effort to ensure that
data is accurate, you should assume all results are unvalidated."
FDA uses the "MedDRA" classification system to describe reported adverse
reactions. MedDRA is a standardized medical terminology that facilitates
sharing of regulatory information internationally. In some cases, "patient
friendly" terms for the layman designated by MedDRA have been substituted
for medical jargon. Please
contact us
with questions or comments about this report.
Safety-Related FDA Updates
Safety-related Labeling Changes
Have experience (good or bad) with VOLTAREN? Rate VOLTAREN at Ask a Patient.
Notes
This summary includes ALL reports where the
drug is a "primary OR secondary OR suspected interacting" drug. Typically, reports are filed for the most serious type or "event" and do not represent incidental or minor side effects. The majority
of these reports are mandatory reports submitted by pharmaceutical
companies, who receive complaints from consumers. The reactions, side effects, or "adverse events," represent up to the 20 most
frequently occuring events in the database for a drug related to the event.
This report also features counts of latest known outcomes associated with
reported side effects, but does not provide the specific outcomes for specific
adverse events.
