Pain control in the week following laparoscopic surgery: A comparison of sustained-release ibuprofen and paracetamol

Summary. This study compared pain relief and adverse events from sustained-release ibuprofen and paracetamol administered for a week after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive sustained-release ibuprofen (2 × 800 mg once daily) or paracetamol (2 × 500 mg PRN up to 4 hourly). Oxycodone tablets (5 mg) were available for rescue analgesia. Patients kept a pain diary for 1 week and were assessed by the investigators 24 h after surgery and at the surgical follow-up clinic. Patients receiving ibuprofen (n = 46) reported lower pain scores (scale 0–4, where 0 = no pain and 4 = unbearable pain) than those receiving paracetamol (n = 44) (mean 1.07 vs 1.35) and consumed less oxycodone (mean 0.83 vs 1.67 tablets). Although these differences were not statistically significant (P = 0.057 and P=0.12 respectively), the 95% confidence interval for the difference in mean pain scores was −0.01 to +0.55 indicating that sustained-release ibuprofen was equivalent or superior to paracetamol. Nineteen patients who received ibuprofen reported a total of 33 adverse events compared to 13 patients receiving paracetamol who reported 18 adverse events (P=0.24). Sustained-release ibuprofen is as good as or better than paracetamol for the control of pain after laparoscopic surgery.