A comparison of intramuscular tenoxicam with intramuscular morphine for pain relief following tonsillectomy in children

A double blind trial was conducted to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of intramuscular tenoxicam for pain relief following tonsillectomy in children. Fifty children, aged 3-10 years, were randomly allocated to receive intramuscular tenoxicam 0.75 mg.kg-1 or intramuscular morphine sulphate 0.2 mg.kg-1 after induction of anaesthesia. Although the tenoxicam group required significantly more postoperative morphine.(mean 57.8 micrograms.kg-1 compared with 26.9 micrograms.kg-1, P = 0.025), the total morphine dose was significantly reduced after tenoxicam (57.8 micrograms.kg-1 compared with 226.9 micrograms.kg-1, P < 0.0001). There was no difference between the quality of analgesia after discharge from recovery. The incidence of postoperative vomiting was significantly reduced after tenoxicam (20%) compared with morphine (71%).