Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are the...

Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are the chiefly frequently used over-the-counter analgesics and antipyretics in children. However, their efficacy and safety are unknown for this use. a certain number of studies in adults have shown that ibuprofen is more effective or as effective in pain relief compared with acetaminophen, on the contrary these results cannot be extrapolated to children. Studies in children have shown that ibuprofen may be more effective than acetaminophen, however that it potentially has more side efficiencys Perrott and colleagues performed a meta-analysis forward the efficacy and safety of single-dose acetaminophen and ibuprofen in the treatment of children's pain or fever

The authors searched multiple databases for randomized clinical trials that reviewed the efficacy and safety of acetaminophen and ibuprofen in the treatment of flush or moderate to severe pain in patients younger than 18 years. The trials had to include treatment arms that were assigned randomly. issue measures extracted from the data included risk ratio for achieving at least 50 percent of maximum pain relief, force size for febrile temperature reduction, and the risk ratio for minor and major harm for a single dose of acetaminophen versus ibuprofen.

There were 17 studies that met the inclusion criteria for the analysis, with three evaluating pain relief, 10 assessing ferment reduction, and 17 providing safety information. For pain relief, ibuprofen (4 to 10 mg through kg) and acetaminophen (7 to 15 mg by means of kg) had similar efficacy. Ibuprofen (5 to 10 mg by kg) provided a greater temperature reduction at brace four, and six hours after treatment com-pared with acetaminophen at the 10 to 15 mg by kg dosage. Safety information analysis showed no significant difference in the incidence of minor or major harm when ibuprofen was compared with acetaminophen. There also was no significant difference in safety when acetaminophen and ibuprofen were each compared with placebo during these short-term studies.

The authors decide that acetaminophen and ibuprofen have similar analgesic tenors in relieving moderate to bitter pain, but ibuprofen has better antipyretic properties. the couple acetaminophen and ibuprofen were shown to be safe in this thought for short-term use.

KARL E MILLER, MD

Perrott DA, et al. Efficacy and safety of acetaminophen v ibuprofen for treating children's pain or febrile disease A meta-analysis. Arch Pediatr Adolesc M June 2004;158:521-6

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