Faculty Collaboration Database

Oral morphine versus ibuprofen administered at home for postoperative orthopedic pain in children: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ 2017 Oct 10;189(40):E1252-E1258

Date

10/12/2017

Pubmed ID

29018084

Pubmed Central ID

PMC5636628

DOI

10.1503/cmaj.170017

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85031101537 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   51 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Oral morphine for postoperative pain after minor pediatric surgery, while increasingly popular, is not supported by evidence. We evaluated whether oral morphine was superior to ibuprofen for at-home management of children's postoperative pain.

METHODS: We conducted a randomized superiority trial comparing oral morphine (0.5 mg/kg) with ibuprofen (10 mg/kg) in children 5 to 17 years of age who had undergone minor outpatient orthopedic surgery (June 2013 to September 2016). Participants took up to 8 doses of the intervention drug every 6 hours as needed for pain at home. The primary outcome was pain, according to the Faces Pain Scale - Revised, for the first dose. Secondary outcomes included additional analgesic requirements, adverse effects, unplanned health care visits and pain scores for doses 2 to 8.

RESULTS: We analyzed data for 77 participants in each of the morphine and ibuprofen groups. Both interventions decreased pain scores with no difference in efficacy. The median difference in pain score before and after the first dose of medication was 1 (interquartile range 0-1) for both morphine and ibuprofen (p = 0.2). For doses 2 to 8, the median differences in pain score before and after the dose were not significantly different between groups. Significantly more participants taking morphine reported adverse effects (45/65 [69%] v. 26/67 [39%], p < 0.001), most commonly drowsiness (31/65 [48%] v. 15/67 [22%] in the morphine and ibuprofen groups, respectively; p = 0.003).

INTERPRETATION: Morphine was not superior to ibuprofen, and both drugs decreased pain with no apparent difference in efficacy. Morphine was associated with significantly more adverse effects, which suggests that ibuprofen is a better first-line option after minor surgery.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, no. NCT01686802.

Author List

Poonai N, Datoo N, Ali S, Cashin M, Drendel AL, Zhu R, Lepore N, Greff M, Rieder M, Bartley D

Author

Amy L. Drendel DO Interim Chief, Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Administration, Oral
Adolescent
Analgesics, Non-Narcotic
Analgesics, Opioid
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Home Care Services
Humans
Ibuprofen
Male
Morphine
Orthopedic Procedures
Pain Measurement
Pain, Postoperative
Treatment Outcome