NEW ORLEANS — A new study gives some reassurance to arthritis sufferers who want pain relief but are worried about side effects. It finds that Celebrex, a drug similar to ones withdrawn 12 years ago for safety reasons, is no riskier for the heart than some other prescription pain pills that are much tougher on the stomach.

“We do not want patients to suffer with pain and we need to know what is safe to give them,” said Dr. Steven Nissen, the Cleveland Clinic’s heart chief, who led the study. Fear that Celebrex would be worse than alternatives proved unfounded, and “on almost every endpoint it actually comes out the best.”

Some other doctors were less confident, partly because follow-up information was missing on one-fourth of the participants, and many others stopped taking their assigned drug. Still, several independent experts said the main results are believable.

“I find this reassuring,” said Dr. Brian Strom, a drug safety expert and chancellor at Rutgers University in Newark. No new side effects emerged and Celebrex “seemed safer that way.”

Many of the 52 million Americans with arthritis need long-term pain medicines and higher doses than over-the-counter ones, but some can cause serious stomach trouble. The government required its maker, Pfizer, to do this new study to keep it on the market.

The study tested daily use of Celebrex versus prescription-strength ibuprofen or naproxen in 24,000 arthritis patients with heart disease or a risk factor for it such as diabetes.

The results only apply to these drugs and amounts — not to occasional use of lower, over-the-counter doses (ibuprofen is sold as Motrin, Advil and other brands; naproxen is sold as Naprosyn and Aleve), or to other painkillers such as Tylenol.

The findings are not relevant to “somebody who takes an occasional ibuprofen or naproxen for a headache,” Nissen said.

All of these drugs are available as generics, but Celebrex is not sold over the counter.

After more than two years in the study, about 2 percent of participants had suffered a heart attack, stroke, heart-related death or other heart problem regardless of what drug they were taking. This was a surprise: Earlier studies suggested naproxen would be safest.

Serious stomach problems were more common with ibuprofen and naproxen. Kidney problems were more common with ibuprofen.

The study doesn’t tell us whether any of these drugs is safer than no drug — there was no placebo group. All we can say is that if they raise heart risks, they do so equally.