Analgesic activity of propyphenazone in patients with pain following oral surgery.

The acute analgesic effect of single oral doses of 150 and 300 mg propyphenazone, 1000 mg acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and placebo was investigated in 210 patients with pain following dental surgery. At most time points over the 3-hour observation period all the active medications had a significantly greater analgesic effect than placebo according to all the methods of pain assessment used. Both doses of propyphenazone reached their peak activity sooner than ASA, and their duration of action tended to be shorter. On a per milligram basis, the relative analgesic potency of propyphenazone was about twice that of ASA. All test substances were well tolerated. Side effects, such as tiredness, nausea, headache, dizziness etc., were reported by less than 20% of the patients. The nature of the adverse reactions was similar for all medications, and as they were recorded most frequently after placebo, they cannot therefore be definitely ascribed to one or the other of the active test substances.

Assessment of analgesics in dental surgery outpatients.

The usefulness of the dental outpatient model for evaluating the efficacy of mild analgesics, first described by Cooper and Beaver, is demonstrated in five separate, double-blind, randomised, single-dose, parallel-group studies. Pain intensity and pain relief were recorded at hourly intervals for 3 h following the administration of aspirin 1000 mg and placebo. In all five studies aspirin was significantly more effective than placebo, with relatively small variability of the response between the studies. The method is simple, reliable and sensitive and complements the inpatient studies of postoperative pain hitherto more frequently used.