ANALGESIC EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF SINGLE-DOSE INTRAMUSCULAR KETOROLAC FOR POSTOPERATIVE PAIN MANAGEMENT IN CHILDREN FOLLOWING TONSILLECTOMY.
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 143
Subjects: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Pharmacology.
Description: The purpose of this study, in children following tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy, was to compare the analgesic requirements, postoperative pain intensity scores, the severity and duration of bleeding, and length of stay between children who received a single intramuscular (IM) dose of normal saline at the completion of surgery (saline group) and children who received a single IM dose of ketorolac at the completion of surgery (ketorolac group).

Children were randomized to receive either an intramuscular (IM) injection of ketorolac (1 mg/kg; ketorolac group, N = 45) or saline (1 cc; saline group, N = 42) at the completion of the surgical procedure. Intravenous fentanyl (0.5 $\mu$g/kg/dose) was administered in repeated doses as needed postoperatively. Pain intensity was measured using the Oucher and the CHEOPS. Severity of postoperative bleeding was measured using a 4-point rating scale. Analgesic measures were obtained prior to each administration of fentanyl and 5 minutes after the drug was given in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), and then hourly until discharge.

The ketorolac group received significantly less fentanyl (mean = 35.9 $\mu$g) than the saline group (mean = 48.3 $\mu$g, t = $-$2.21, p $<$ 0.03). In the first hour postoperatively, the CHEOPS demonstrated significant decreases in pain intensity scores in response to opioids, in both groups. However, during the remainder of the postoperative stay, the photographic scale of the Oucher was the more sensitive and discriminating pain intensity measure. The length of stay of children in the ketorolac group was significantly reduced by approximately 30 minutes. There was no evidence of increased bleeding postoperatively for children in the ketorolac group.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-09, Section: B, page: 4597.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1993.

School code: 0034.