Drug Safety
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Review Comparative Study
Ketorolac for postoperative pain management in children.
Ketorolac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) with potent analgesic effects and a relatively low incidence of adverse effects. Numerous clinical trials of postoperative pain treatment in children have shown that ketorolac is as effective as the major opioid analgesics, such as morphine, and more effective than codeine. The pharmacokinetics of ketorolac differ in children compared with adult patients after surgery. ⋯ Bleeding time is usually slightly increased, but in most patients it remains within normal values. There is conflicting evidence of the potential for increased surgical-site bleeding after tonsillectomy but, for other types of paediatric surgery, numerous clinical studies have confirmed that ketorolac is not associated with increased bleeding. Thus, ketorolac is well suited for the treatment of postoperative pain in children, either alone or in combination with opioids or local anaesthetics, because of its analgesic potency and relatively low incidence of adverse effects.