Ibuprofen provids better pain relief in children than acetaminophen or codeine

Children's Pain Relief

A Canadian study found that ibuprofen provided better and more efficient pain relief than acetaminophen or codeine for children brought in to the emergency department with acute musculoskeletal injuries.

From May 2002 to January 2003, researchers working on "A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, and Codeine for Acute Pain Relief in Children With Musculoskeletal Trauma," evaluated 300 children (6 to 17 years) at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario emergency department with pain from an injury (to extremities, neck and back) who were randomly assigned to receive orally acetaminophen, ibuprofen or codeine.

Patients that received ibuprofen experienced greater pain relief at 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.