title: Propacetamol versus ketorolac for treatment of acute postoperative pain after total hip or knee replacement.
abstract: We assessed the analgesic efficacy of IV propacetamol and ketorolac in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study involving patients undergoing total hip or knee replacement procedures. On the first morning after major joint replacement surgery, 164 patients experiencing moderate-to-severe pain were randomly assigned to receive an IV infusion of propacetamol (2 g), ketorolac (15 or 30 mg), or placebo (saline). Patient-controlled analgesia with morphine was made available as a "rescue" analgesic on patient's request during the 6-h postdosing evaluation period. The median time to onset of analgesia with propacetamol (8 [95% confidence interval 6,10] min) was shorter than ketorolac 15 mg (14 [7,16] min), and placebo (16 [8; not estimable] min) although the differences did not reach statistical significance. However, compared with ketorolac 30 mg, propacetamol had a shorter duration of analgesia (3.5 [2;5.4] vs 6 [3.3; not estimable] h). Analysis of pain intensity and pain relief scores demonstrated that propacetamol produced a significantly greater improvement in pain relief than saline from 45 min until 5 h after the injection. Propacetamol was not significantly different from ketorolac 15 mg and 30 mg with respect to the main analgesic efficacy variables during the 6-h assessment period. The most frequently reported adverse event with propacetamol was injection site pain (28% vs 19% for ketorolac 15 mg, 29% for ketorolac 30 mg, and 10% for placebo, respectively). In conclusion, propacetamol (2 g IV) possesses a similar analgesic efficacy to ketorolac (15 or 30 mg IV) after total hip or knee replacement surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas 75390-9068, USA.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000368:Aged; D016058:Analgesia, Patient-Controlled; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020910:Ketorolac / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000187:drug effects; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D000082:Acetaminophen; C063776:propacetamol; D020910:Ketorolac