Comparison of oral ketorolac, intramuscular morphine, and placebo for treatment of pain after orthopedic surgery.

Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel, single-dose, single-center, 6-hour study, we compared the analgesic response and tolerability of oral ketorolac tromethamine and intramuscular morphine sulfate and placebo. The study group comprised 176 patients with moderate, severe, or very severe pain after hip or knee surgery at a teaching hospital. Patients received either 10 mg of ketorolac orally, 10 mg of morphine intramuscularly, 5 mg of morphine IM, or placebo. Patients rated pain intensity at baseline and pain intensity and pain relief at 30 minutes, 1 hour, and hourly thereafter for 6 hours. At study completion, we evaluated overall patient ratings of pain relief and occurrence of adverse events. Summed pain intensity difference scores and total pain relief scores showed the active medications to be significantly superior to placebo and not significantly different from each other. The 10-mg dose of morphine showed a small advantage over ketorolac in peak analgesic effect, but the onset of pain relief was comparable among the active agents. The incidence of adverse events among the active-treatment groups was similar, though there was a numerical trend favoring ketorolac over 10 mg of morphine. We found oral ketorolac to be an effective alternative to parenteral opioids for the treatment of pain after hip or knee surgery in patients who can tolerate oral medication.

Comparison of ketorolac and meperidine in patients with postoperative pain--impact on health care utilization.

A double-blind, randomized study was conducted to compare the effects of intramuscular ketorolac tromethamine and meperidine hydrochloride, and subsequent oral pain medication, on health care utilization and postoperative recovery. Following abdominal hysterectomy or cholecystectomy, 210 patients (aged 18 to 70 years; 189 women, 21 men) were randomly assigned to therapy and evaluated for efficacy, safety, nursing care requirements, functional independence, recovery milestones, and quality of life. The patients received 30 mg of ketorolac intramuscularly every 3 to 6 hours as needed, followed by 10 mg of ketorolac every 4 to 6 hours, or 100 mg of meperidine intramuscularly every 3 to 6 hours as needed, followed by acetaminophen/codeine (600 mg/60 mg) orally every 4 to 6 hours. Patients receiving ketorolac had lower nursing utilization scores and achieved a higher level of functioning than patients receiving meperidine during the first 3 postoperative days. Times to first bowel movement, walking without assistance, and first oral fluids were significantly shorter after ketorolac than meperidine. Mean pain intensity difference (from baseline) scores and pain relief scores when adjusted for baseline pain severity were comparable between ketorolac and meperidine. Most adverse events reported by the patients were mild to moderate; 12 patients in each group withdrew from treatment because of adverse events (nausea, rash, or headache). It is concluded that ketorolac is an effective alternative to meperidine in the management of postoperative pain.