hopefulhiker
03-05-2007, 09:02
Ibuprofen beats 2 other painkillers
LINDSEY TANNER
Associated Press
Deciding which medicine to give a child in pain just got easier: The first head-to-head study of three common painkillers found that ibuprofen works best, at least for kids with broken bones, bruises and sprains.
Available generically and under the brand names Advil and Motrin, ibuprofen beat generic acetaminophen and codeine in an emergency room study of 300 children treated at a Canadian hospital.
The youngsters, ages 6 to 17, were randomly assigned to receive standard doses of one of the three medicines. They then periodically rated their pain. Half an hour later, ratings were similar in the three groups. But starting an hour after taking the medicine, children who got ibuprofen reported substantially greater pain relief than the other two groups.
Children rated their pain on a 100-point scale before and after taking the medicine. At 60 minutes afterward, scores for children who got ibuprofen had dropped 24 points, compared with 12 points for the acetaminophen group and 11 points for the codeine group. The differences remained at 120 minutes.
Also at 60 minutes, about half the ibuprofen children reported what doctors considered "adequate" pain relief, or scores below 30, compared with 40 percent of the codeine children and 36 percent of the acetaminophen group.
The study was done at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, and a research institute at the hospital funded the study. Results appear in the March edition of Pediatrics, being released today.
Puzzled Parents
For parents, choosing a painkiller for children can be confusing, partly because acetaminophen and ibuprofen both work against fevers.
Codeine does too, but it's a mild narcotic available only by prescription.
Associated Press
LINDSEY TANNER
Associated Press
Deciding which medicine to give a child in pain just got easier: The first head-to-head study of three common painkillers found that ibuprofen works best, at least for kids with broken bones, bruises and sprains.
Available generically and under the brand names Advil and Motrin, ibuprofen beat generic acetaminophen and codeine in an emergency room study of 300 children treated at a Canadian hospital.
The youngsters, ages 6 to 17, were randomly assigned to receive standard doses of one of the three medicines. They then periodically rated their pain. Half an hour later, ratings were similar in the three groups. But starting an hour after taking the medicine, children who got ibuprofen reported substantially greater pain relief than the other two groups.
Children rated their pain on a 100-point scale before and after taking the medicine. At 60 minutes afterward, scores for children who got ibuprofen had dropped 24 points, compared with 12 points for the acetaminophen group and 11 points for the codeine group. The differences remained at 120 minutes.
Also at 60 minutes, about half the ibuprofen children reported what doctors considered "adequate" pain relief, or scores below 30, compared with 40 percent of the codeine children and 36 percent of the acetaminophen group.
The study was done at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, and a research institute at the hospital funded the study. Results appear in the March edition of Pediatrics, being released today.
Puzzled Parents
For parents, choosing a painkiller for children can be confusing, partly because acetaminophen and ibuprofen both work against fevers.
Codeine does too, but it's a mild narcotic available only by prescription.
Associated Press