• Am. J. Surg. · Aug 2009

    Review

    Codeine-acetaminophen versus nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of post-abdominal surgery pain: a systematic review of randomized trials.

    • Marieke Nauta, Marieke L A Landsmeer, and Gideon Koren.
    • University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
    • Am. J. Surg. 2009 Aug 1;198(2):256-61.

    BackgroundCesarean section, episiotomy, and third and perineal tears are associated with significant tissue damage, causing pain in the immediate postpartum period. The current standard in North America is to prescribe oral acetaminophen/codeine (A + C) for postpartum pain. Codeine has opioid-related adverse effects and may not be safe during breastfeeding in the postpartum period for all neonates. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are devoid of opioid-related adverse effects and could be a possible alternative for analgesia in postpartum pain. The objective of this systematic review was to compare the analgesic effect and safety profile of acetaminophen/codeine (A + C) with NSAIDs in the management of pain after laparotomy.MethodsA systematic search was performed by using MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library databases to identify randomized controlled trials comparing A + C to NSAIDs for postlaparotomy pain. Selected articles were critically appraised by using the CONSORT method and Jadad score.ResultsNine relevant articles were identified. All 9 studies used a visual analog scale for pain intensity and reported the incidence of adverse effects as an outcome. None of the studies showed lower pain intensity scores after treatment with A + C compared with different NSAIDs. In 3 studies, the number of patients with adverse effects was significantly lower in the NSAID group compared with the A + C-group. In 1 other study, the rate of constipation was significantly lower in the NSAID group when compared with the A + C-group. The other 5 studies did not report any significant differences in the rates of adverse effects between the 2 groups.ConclusionsNone of the studies found A + C to be superior to NSAIDs in controlling postlaparotomy pain. NSAIDs appear to be an equipotent alternative in the treatment of postlaparotomy pain. Four of the 9 studies reported less adverse effects in the NSAID group. There appears to be an overall better risk/benefit ratio for the use of NSAIDs for postpartum pain.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…