Ketoprofen is superior to metamizole in relieving postoperative pain after head and neck tumor operation.
OBJECTIVE
Recently, nonsteroidal analgoantipyretics are recommended in the management of postoperative pain, with great attention to their safety. We conducted a randomized, single blind study to compare the analgesic efficacy and safety of ketoprofen and dipyrone (metamizole) after major head and neck surgery.


METHODS
60 patients received postoperatively 100 mg ketoprofen or 2.5 g metamizole i.v. every 8h over 72h with additional administration of tramadol in case of inadequate analgesia. Pain was assessed by visual numeric scale every 2h during the 72h.


RESULTS
Patients in both groups had similar pain score during the first 2 postoperative days, while on the 3rd postoperative day patients in the ketoprofen group had significantly lower pain score (p <0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The efficacy of ketoprofen to achieve postoperative analgesia was comparable to metamizole during the first 48h, while ketoprofen was superior to metamizole during the 3rd postoperative day.
Jovic
R
R
Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic, University Teaching Hospital Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
Dragicevic
D
D
Komazec
Z
Z
Sabo
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004177:Dipyrone / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007660:Ketoprofen / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016037:Single-Blind Method
D004177:Dipyrone; D007660:Ketoprofen