COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF POSTOPERATIVE PAIN SCORES AND OPIOID CONSUMPTION IN SEPTORHINOPLASTY AFTER ADMINISTRATION OF SINGLE-DOSE PRE-EMPTIVE PARACETAMOL AND IBUPROFEN: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRAIL

Introduction Septorhinoplasty operates on cartilage and bone of the nose and is ensued by severe postoperative pain. The objective of this study is to evaluate effects of preoperative administration of intravenous (IV) paracetamol and ibuprofen on postoperative pain scores in patients undergoing septorhinoplasty. Methodology 150 patients undergoing septorhinoplasty were randomly assigned into three groups with 50 patients in each group. The control group (Group A) was administered 100 ml saline solution, paracetamol group (Group B) was administered 1000 mg IV paracetamol in 100 ml saline and ibuprofen group (Group C) was administered 800 mg IV ibuprofen in 100 ml saline before surgery. Opioid analgesics were employed to achieve postoperative analgesia. Postoperative pain was evaluated using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Postoperative opioid consumption and adverse effects were also recorded for each patient. Results In comparison with Group A, VAS in Group B and Group C was statistically lower in all the time intervals (p<0.05). In 1st and 6th hours postoperatively, VAS in Group C was lower than Group B (p<0.05). In control group, total opioid consumption was highest in all time intervals (p<0.05). In Group C, total opioid consumption was significantly lower than Group B at 0-6 and 6-12 hours interval. (p<0.05). Conclusion- Single-dose pre-emptive administration of ibuprofen has more profound postoperative analgesic effect than paracetamol during first 6 hours in septorhinoplasty. After first 6 hours of the procedure, there is no difference in analgesic effect between ibuprofen and paracetamol.