Failure of rectal diclofenac to augment opioid analgesia after cholecystectomy

The analgesic efficacy of a single 100-mg suppository of diclofenac sodium given after elective cholecystectomy was studied in 30 healthy patients in a double-blind randomised controlled manner. The mean 24-hour postoperative morphine consumption of the placebo group and the diclofenac group was similar (45 mg). Analysis of the cumulative hourly morphine consumption from the patient-controlled analgesia system failed to show any statistically significant differences between the groups. Peak expiratory flow rate, forced expiratory volume at 1 second and forced vital capacity decreased 24 hours after operation to less than 50% of pre-operative values in both groups. Subjective experiences of pain, nausea and drowsiness assessed by linear analogue scoring were similar in both groups.