Ibuprofen Provides Longer Lasting Analgesia Than Fentanyl After Laparoscopic Surgery

Abstract

The authors compared the analgesic efficacy of one dose of oral ibuprofen with that of intravenously administered fentanyl for relief of pain after outpatient laparoscopic surgery. Thirty healthy female patients received either 800 mg of oral ibuprofen preoperatively or 75 μg of intravenous fentanyl intra-operatively plus respective intravenous or oral placebos in a randomized, double-blind manner. Patients recorded their degree of pain and nausea in the recovery room, in the same-day surgery stepdown unit, during the ride home, and upon arrival at home. The postanesthesia care nurse recorded the amount of fentanyl and droperidol needed to treat pain and nausea in the recovery room. Patients who received ibuprofen were more comfortable in the stepdown unit (P < 0.05) and after arrival home (P < 0.05) than those in the fentanyl group. Additionally, patients who received ibuprofen had lower nausea scores in the step-down unit (P < 0.05); this may have been related to the lower total fentanyl dose in these patients. The authors conclude that ibuprofen may be a useful alternative to fentanyl for providing postoperative analgesia for outpatient surgery.