Efficacy of lornoxicam for acute postoperative pain relief after septoplasty: a comparison with diclofenac, ketoprofen, and dipyrone.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of injectable lornoxicam with diclofenac, ketoprofen, and dipyrone for acute postoperative pain.

DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

SETTING: University hospital.

PATIENTS: 200 ASA physical status I patients who were scheduled for elective septoplasty with general anesthesia.

INTERVENTIONS: Patients were divided into 5 groups according to the intramuscularly administered analgesic drug: lornoxicam 8 mg (twice daily), diclofenac 75 mg (twice daily), ketoprofen 100 mg (twice daily), dipyrone 1 g (three times daily), and placebo (twice daily).

MEASUREMENTS: Pain intensity was evaluated with a 0 to 100 mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, and 24th hour postoperatively. Intramuscular pethidine 1 mg/kg was administered to patients requiring additional analgesia, and treatment-related adverse effects were noted.

MAIN RESULTS: Pethidine requirement was found to be significantly higher in the placebo group (1.8 mg/kg per 24 hours; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-2.2) than in the other groups (P = 0.001). No significant difference in opioid requirement was found among the treated groups (P > 0.05). Postoperative VAS scores were significantly lower at specific hours in the treatment groups when compared with placebo group (P < 0.05). No statistically significant difference in adverse effects was found among the groups studied (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Efficacy of lornoxicam in the management of acute postoperative pain was not superior to that of other nonopioid analgesics used in this study.