The aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro release properties of tiaprofenic acid (TA) from different topical vehicles. Carbopol 940 gel, chitosan gel, two types of emulsion-based ointment formulations (o/w and w/o) and hydrophilic petrolatum USP were prepared with 2% drug content. Drug release from all vehicles through a standard cellophane membrane was evaluated by using Franz-type diffusion cells. In vitro release study results showed that the diffusion coefficients of the drug from vehicles rank according to the following order: Carbopol 940 gel (D = 3.11 x 10(-7) +/- 0.54 cm(2)/s) > chitosan gel (D = 0.27 x 10(-7) +/- 0.08 cm(2)/s) > emulsion-based ointment (o/w) (D = 0.18 x 10(-7) +/- 0.05 cm(2)/s) > emulsion-based ointment (w/o) (D = 0.13 x 10(-7) +/- 0.02 cm(2)/s) > hydrophilic petrolatum USP (D = 0.02 x 10(-7) +/- 0.01 cm(2)/s). Carbopol 940 gel base showed significantly higher drug release than other vehicles (P < 0.001). These results indicated that Carbopol 940 gel base is a good candidate for the topical delivery of TA, giving significantly higher drug release than the other vehicles.