title: Analgesia with oral narcotics and added ibuprofen in cancer patients.
abstract: A scheduled regimen of oral narcotic analgesics was compared with a regimen of oral narcotic analgesics plus ibuprofen for analgesic efficacy in patients with cancer. Ten patients with metastatic cancer were randomly assigned to receive either ibuprofen 400 mg or a look-alike placebo four times daily in addition to each patient's existing regimen of scheduled oral narcotics. A two-period changeover study design was used. The 24-hour narcotic intake equated to injectable morphine was computed for each patient at baseline and during the nine study days. A visual analogue scale was used to evaluate pain relief, nausea, mood depression, daytime drowsiness and nighttime sleeplessness. The analgesic efficacy of the narcotic-ibuprofen combination was significantly greater than the analgesic efficacy of the narcotic-placebo combination. Eight patients demonstrated a positive treatment effect with added ibuprofen; the overall improvement in analgesia averaged 39.1% in these patients. There was no significant increase from baseline in the incidence of nausea, mood depression, daytime drowsiness or nighttime sleeplessness. At the doses used in this study, a treatment regimen of oral narcotic analgesics plus ibuprofen was more effective than oral narcotics alone in relieving pain associated with cancer.
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000698:Analgesia; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009294:Narcotics / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D007052:Ibuprofen