title: A Comparative Efficacy of Propacetamol and Ketorolac in Postoperative Patient Controlled Analgesia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ketorolac has been used as a postoperative analgesia in combination with opioids. However, the use of ketorolac may produce serious side effects in vulnerable patients. Propacetamol is known to induce fewer side effects than ketorolac because it mainly affects the central nervous system. We compared the analgesic effects and patient satisfaction levels of each drug when combined with fentanyl patient-controlled analgesia (PCA).
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients were divided into two groups, each with n = 46. The patients in each group were given 60 mg of ketorolac or 2 g of propacetamol (mixed with fentanyl) for 10 minutes. The patients were then given 180 mg of ketorolac or 8 g of propacetamol (mixed with fentanyl and ramosetron) through PCA. We assessed the visual analogue pain scale (VAS) at the time point immediately before administration (baseline) and at 15, 30, and 60 minutes, and 24 hours after administration. Also, the side effects of each regimen and each patient's degree of satisfaction were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant decline in the VAS score in both groups (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the VAS scores between the groups at each time point. Satisfaction scores between the groups showed no significant difference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The efficacy of propacetamol is comparable to that of ketorolac in postoperative PCA with fentanyl.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Bong Ha
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Hun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Il
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Woong Mo
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyoung Gon
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Myoung Ha
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Yoon
keywords: Efficacy; Ketorolac; Patient-controlled analgesia; Propacetamol; Visual analogue pain scale