Comparison of Intravenous Paracetamol and Intravenous Ketorolac in Postoperative Pain Control After Hip Surgery

Abstract

Objective: To compare the analgesic effects of intravenous paracetamol versus ketorolac to control pain after hip surgery.

Methodology: This prospective comparative study was conducted at Ali Medical Centre Islamabad from Dec 2022-Dec 2023.  One hundred and eighteen (n=118) patients who underwent hip surgeries were included in this study. Patients were equally distributed into two groups. In group A, intravenous Paracetamol was administered for post-surgery analgesia. In group B, intravenous ketorolac was utilized for pain relief. A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to assess pain in both groups at 2, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 48-hours post-surgery. Collected data was analyzed using the SPSS version 23.

Results:  One hundred and eighteen (n=118) patients had a mean age of 61.5±0.5 years. 43(36.4%) patients were male and 75(63.6%) patients were female. Significant pain (VAS score >4) in Group A at 2, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 48-hours post-surgery was present in 29(49.1%), 9(15.2%), 9(15.2%), 7(11.8%), and 18(30.5%) patients respectively. In Group B, the significant pain (VAS score >4) was recorded at the same time intervals, in 6(10.1%), 4(6.7%), 2(3.3%), 1(1.6%), and 3(5.0%) patients respectively. The mean doses of rescue analgesia required in Group A was 1.3±0.5 and in Group B, it was 0.3±0.6 (p-value ? 0.001).

Conclusion: Intravenous ketorolac provides better analgesia than paracetamol after hip surgery. Moreover, doses of rescue analgesia required with intravenous paracetamol were more as compared to ketorolac.