Ibuprofen is More Effective in Musculoskeletal Pain Treatment in Children

Filed in archive Cases , Studies , Treatment on March 8, 2007

Compared to acetaminophen or codeine, ibuprofen has been found more effective in treating children with acute musculoskeletal injuries (broken bones, bruises and sprains).

This finding has been confirmed by a study from Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) entitled: "A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, and Codeine for acute pain Relief in Children With Musculoskeletal Trauma" that evaluated 300 children (6 to 17 years) who came to CHEO's E.R. with pain from an injury (to extremities, neck and back) who were randomly assigned to receive orally acetaminophen, ibuprofen or codeine between May 2003 and January 2003.

Patients who received ibuprofen experienced greater pain relief 60 minutes after receiving the dose than the other two medications. In addition, patients taking ibuprofen did not need to take additional doses, where as patients taking acetaminophen or codeine did need additional doses in order to achieve adequate pain relief.

Visits to the hospital's emergency room for musculoskeletal pain in children are very common - a very painful ordeal where most often no adequate pain medication is provided to these young patients.

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