- Researchers say it appears ibuprofen is more effective than codeine for managing pain after surgery.
- They add that ibuprofen also appears to have fewer side effects than codeine, which is an opioid.
- Experts say ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) do not pose the potential for dependence as codeine may.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen offer better pain management and fewer side effects than codeine following surgery.
That’s according to research published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Researchers said they found that people who took NSAIDs had lower pain levels at 6 and 12 hours after surgery compared with their counterparts who took codeine.
“In all surgery types, subgroups and outcome time points, NSAIDs were equal or superior to codeine for postoperative pain,” the study authors wrote.
“We found that patients randomized to NSAIDs following outpatient surgical procedures reported better pain scores, better global assessment scores, fewer adverse effects, and no difference in bleeding events, compared with those receiving codeine,” they added.
Source: healthline