Comparison of the prophylactic effect of ibuprofen and intravenous ketorolac in pain control after upper extremity surgery: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial Study

Pain after surgery is an unpleasant experience. This process causes physiological disorders in all systems of the body. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most widely used drugs to control postoperative pain. Therefore, this study was performed to compare the prophylactic effect of intravenous ibuprofen and intravenous ketorolac in pain control after upper extremity surgery.

In this randomized double-blind clinical trial study, 60 patients with anesthesia class I and II underwent upper limb orthopedic surgery. Patients were randomly divided into intravenous ibuprofen and ketorolac. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure and heart rate before surgery, 1, 10 and 20 minutes postoperatively were recorded. Pain was measured before, 6, 12 and 24 hours after surgery. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 21 and using descriptive and inferential statistical tests.

Ibuprofen and ketorolac groups were similar in terms of gender, age, BMI and ASA. The results of Mann-Whitney test showed that there was a significant difference between ibuprofen and ketorolac groups in terms of pain at 6 hours postoperatively (p <0.05). At 6 hours postoperatively, the mean pain in patients in the ibuprofen group was higher than in the ketorolac group. Also, the results of Friedman test showed that the pain trend was significant in the ketorolac and ibuprofen groups (p <0.05).

Based on the results of the present study, injection of 30 mg intravenous ketorolac had more pain relief than 400 mg ibuprofen during the study, especially in the first 6 hours after surgery among patients undergoing upper limb orthopedic surgery.