H. Owen et al., PAIN CONTROL IN THE WEEK FOLLOWING LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY - A COMPARISON OF SUSTAINED-RELEASE IBUPROFEN AND PARACETAMOL, Minimally invasive therapy & allied technologies, 6(3), 1997, pp. 235-240
This study compared pain relief and adverse events from sustained-rele
ase ibuprofen and paracetamol administered for a week after laparoscop
ic cholecystectomy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive sustain
ed-release ibuprofen (2x800mg once daily) or paracetamol (2x500mg PRN
up to 4 hourly). Oxycodone tablets (5 mg) were available for rescue an
algesia. Patients kept a pain diary for 1 week and were assessed by th
e investigators 24 h after surgery and at the surgical follow-up clini
c. Patients receiving ibuprofen (n=46) reported lower pain scores (sca
le 0-4, where 0=no pain and 4=unbearable pain) than those receiving pa
racetamol (n=44) (mean 1.07 vs 1.35) and consumed less oxycodone (mean
0.83 vs 1.67 tablets). Although these differences were not statistica
lly significant (P=0.057 and P=0.12 respectively), the 95% confidence
interval for the difference in mean pain scores was -0.01 to +0.55 ind
icating that sustained-release ibuprofen was equivalent or superior to
paracetamol. Nineteen patients who received ibuprofen reported a tota
l of 33 adverse events compared to 13 patients receiving paracetamol w
ho reported 13 adverse events (P=0.24). Sustained-release ibuprofen is
as good as or better than paracetamol for the control of pain after l
aparoscopic surgery.