Ibuprofen Versus Codeine. Is One Better for Post-operative Pain Relief Following Reduction of Paediatric Forearm Fractures?

Overview

For simple fractures treated in the emergency department with cast immobilisation only, ibuprofen has been shown to be superior to, or a least or equivalent to codeine with less side effects. These and other studies have commented that their results may not be applicable to children who have fractures that require reduction. There is currently no literature on the management of postoperative pain following reduction of paediatric fractures. The investigators aim therefore is to investigate whether either of the two most commonly prescribed analgesics is superior to the other for postoperative pain management following closed reductions of paediatric forearm fractures. Also, if one agent has more side effects than the other.

This will be a prospective randomised controlled trial with the null hypothesis that there is no difference between ibuprofen and codeine in terms of pain relief or side effects. Following ethics approval (submitted and approved) by the University of Manitoba ethics board a study group of fifty patients (25 in each arm) will be recruited to participate in the study.All patients will complete informed consent following both a verbal and written explanation of the study. Following the closed reduction they will all receive regular acetaminophen; (dose 15mg/kg) and either ibuprofen (10mg/kg) or codeine (1mg/kg) depending upon the group they were randomised to. This will have to be single blinding as the codeine formulation used by the hospital is a clear red liquid (5mg/ml) and the ibuprofen a cloudy colourless liquid (20mg/ml). They will also be given a "rescue" medication to be taken if the caregivers feel that the pain relief is not sufficient 1 hour after the study medication. This rescue medication will be the alternative medication in the study.