The British journal of clinical practice
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Double-blind clinical trial of nefopam in comparison with pentazocine in surgical patients.
A double-blind clinical study comparing a new non-narcotic analgesic, nefopam, with pentazocine was carried out on 50 Indian patients. Forty patients had undergone surgical procedures, and the remaining 10 had musculoskeletal or traumatic disorders. There were 25 patients in each group. ⋯ It was also noted that the incidence of side effects was greater in the pentazocine group (61) than the nefopam group (22), the difference being statistically highly significant (p less than 0.001, chi 2-test). A few patients (score 4) in both groups required additional morphine as relief analgesic on the first day of therapy. Thus the non-narcotic nefopam is equally effective as the narcotic pentazocine and has less side effects.