title: Oral administration of morphine versus ibuprofen to manage postfracture pain in children: a randomized trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent warnings from Health Canada regarding codeine for children have led to increased use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and morphine for common injuries such as fractures. Our objective was to determine whether morphine administered orally has superior efficacy to ibuprofen in fracture-related pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a parallel group, randomized, blinded superiority design. Children who presented to the emergency department with an uncomplicated extremity fracture were randomly assigned to receive either morphine (0.5 mg/kg orally) or ibuprofen (10 mg/kg) for 24 hours after discharge. Our primary outcome was the change in pain score using the Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R). Participants were asked to record pain scores immediately before and 30 minutes after receiving each dose.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We analyzed data from 66 participants in the morphine group and 68 participants in the ibuprofen group. For both morphine and ibuprofen, we found a reduction in pain scores (mean pre-post difference ± standard deviation for dose 1: morphine 1.5 ± 1.2, ibuprofen 1.3 ± 1.0, between-group difference [δ] 0.2 [95% confidence interval (CI) -0.2 to 0.6]; dose 2: morphine 1.3 ± 1.3, ibuprofen 1.3 ± 0.9, δ 0 [95% CI -0.4 to 0.4]; dose 3: morphine 1.3 ± 1.4, ibuprofen 1.4 ± 1.1, δ -0.1 [95% CI -0.7 to 0.4]; and dose 4: morphine 1.5 ± 1.4, ibuprofen 1.1 ± 1.2, δ 0.4 [95% CI -0.2 to 1.1]). We found no significant differences in the change in pain scores between morphine and ibuprofen between groups at any of the 4 time points (p = 0.6). Participants in the morphine group had significantly more adverse effects than those in the ibuprofen group (56.1% v. 30.9%, p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found no significant difference in analgesic efficacy between orally administered morphine and ibuprofen. However, morphine was associated with a significantly greater number of adverse effects. Our results suggest that ibuprofen remains safe and effective for outpatient pain management in children with uncomplicated fractures.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ClinicalTrials.gov, no. NCT01690780.
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta. naveen.poonai@lhsc.on.ca.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Poonai
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bhullar
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Kangrui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papini
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mainprize
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teefy
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bale
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Langford
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Rodrick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stitt
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rieder
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine (Poonai, Bhullar, Lin, Papini, Mainprize, Howard, Teefy, Bale, Langford, Lim, Stitt), London Health Sciences Centre; Department of Paediatrics (Poonai, Lim), Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University; and Department of Paediatrics (Rieder), Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ont.; Department of Pediatrics (Ali), University of Alberta; and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (Ali), Edmonton, Alta.
authors.forename: Samina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D009020:Morphine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D009020:Morphine; D007052:Ibuprofen