Summary
A double-blind, randomised analgesic trial was carried out in 165 patients undergoing surgical removal of one impacted lower wisdom tooth. In a two-dose regimen, the analgesic efficacy of the combination ibuprofen-codeine 200 mg : 30 mg was compared with that of acetylsalicylic acid-codeine 500 mg : 30 mg and codeine 30 mg. Each dose was taken when the patient needed pain relief. The intensity of the pain was measured on a visual analogue scale during the 10-h period after the first dose.
The mean pain reduction by Dose 1 in patients on ibuprofen-codeine, acetylsalicylic acid-codeine and codeine was 64%, 45% and 26%, respectively, and the mean duration of effect was 8.3, 6.3 and 5.6 h. According to the pain reduction, duration of effect and pain reduction index after Doses 1 and 1 + 2. there was a significant difference between ibuprofen-codeine and the other two drugs. The maximum pain reduction within 4 hours was 84% with ibuprofen-codeine. This was significantly different from the reduction achieved both with acetylsalicylic acid-codeine (64 %) and codeine (35 %). Seventeen patients reported adverse events: 5 on ibuprofen-codeine, 4 on acetylsalicylic acid-codeine and 8 on codeine. The most common events were tiredness and vertigo.
It is concluded that the combination ibuprofen-codeine 200 mg :30 mg had greater analgesic efficacy compared to the combination acetylsalicylic acid-codeine 500 mg : 30 or codeine 30 mg in patients with pain after removal of the lower third molars.
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Hellman, M., Ahlström, U., Andersson, L. et al. Analgesic efficacy of an ibuprofen-codeine combination in patients with pain after removal of lower third molars. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 43, 347–350 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02220607
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02220607