Comparative Analgesic Efficacy of Intravenous Ibuprofen versus Intravenous Paracetamol Following Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Abstract

Aim: To compare the Analgesic Efficacy of Intravenous Ibuprofen versus Intravenous Paracetamol Following Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.

Materials and Methods: The prospective comparative study was conducted in the Department of Anesthesia. Total 100 patients were enrolled for the study, divided into two groups. Group A received IV ibuprofen 400 mg and Group B received IV paracetamol 1 g, both administered over 30 minutes. The study comprised patients scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. All patients received instruction on how to use the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain assessment during the preoperative evaluation. Convenience sampling was used for participant recruitment, after which participants were assigned into two groups using a computer-generated allocation sequence.

Results: The two groups were comparable at baseline, with no significant differences in age, gender, weight, height, or BMI (p > 0.05). Postoperative pain scores were significantly lower in the ibuprofen group at 0, 2, 4, and 6 hours, with the greatest difference at 6 hours (p < 0.05). Rescue analgesic requirement was also lower with ibuprofen, particularly at 4 and 6 hours. Heart rate and systolic blood pressure were generally lower in the ibuprofen group, while no consistent significant difference was observed in diastolic blood pressure.

Conclusion: Intravenous ibuprofen provided better postoperative analgesia than intravenous paracetamol, with lower pain scores, delayed rescue analgesia, and reduced overall rescue analgesic use.