Comparison of postoperative analgesic efficacy of intraoperative single-dose intravenous administration of dexketoprofen trometamol and diclofenac sodium in laparoscopic cholecystectomy

New Studies on Dexketoprofen

Introduction. Dexketoprofen(DEX) belongs to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic properties. DEX is an enantiomer of ketoprofen (S+) and has a stronger effect than ketoprofen. It is highly effective even after the administration of small doses. The therapy with DEX does not cause serious side effects and is additionally tolerated by the body.

Aim. The review aimed to find original scientific publications on DEX in recent years and its therapeutic efficacy, safety, and tolerability.

Method. A systematic review of scientific articles published no earlier than 2015 was carried out. Materials from the PubMed, Google Scholar, and Medline Complete databases were used. The literature review was carried out in November 2021. Among the publications found, 28 scientific articles were selected for analysis.

Results and discussion. Over the recent years, there have been many publications about DEX. Articles describing new data on DEX in the treatment of pain were analyzed, compared with other drugs and mesotherapy, the latest reports of its combination with tramadol and thiocolchicoside were reviewed, and a new slow release form of DEX and new therapeutic applications of this drug were investigated. After analyzing all the studies, it was found that DEX produced similar or more effective analgesia compared to other drugs and reduced the need for emergency medications. In addition, it was noted that using DEX in combination therapy was far better than taking it alone, and was also found to be effective in raising the epileptic threshold. Mesotherapy achieved higher results in the treatment of pain symptoms compared to DEX. The side effects that appeared as a result of the use of DEX therapy were not life-threatening.

Conclusion. The results of the review confirm that DEX is a very good analgesic, which is more potent than paracetamol and diclofenac sodium while having similar effects to dexmedetomidine and lidocaine. DEX in combination with tramadol or thiocolchicoside is more effective than when the two drugs are used alone. Scientists are working on the long-acting DEX and are looking for new applications of the drug in epilepsy and oncology.

Regional anesthesia to ameliorate postoperative analgesia outcomes in pediatric surgical patients: an updated systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Regional anesthesia is becoming increasingly popular among anesthesiologists in the management of postoperative analgesia following pediatric surgery. The main objective of this review was to systematically evaluate the last 5 years of randomized controlled trials on the role of regional anesthesia techniques in alleviating postoperative pain associated with various pediatric surgical procedures. Forty studies on 2,408 pediatric patients were evaluated. The majority of the articles published from 2013 to 2017 reported that the use of regional anesthesia minimized postoperative pain and reduced opioid consumption. Only a few surgical procedures (cholecystectomy, inguinal hernia repair, and non-laparoscopic major abdominal surgery) reported no significant difference in the postoperative pain relief compared with the standard anesthetic management. The growing number of randomized controlled trials in the pediatric literature is very promising; however, additional confirmation is needed to reinforce the use of specific regional anesthesia techniques to provide optimal postoperative pain relief for a few surgical procedures (reconstructive ear surgery, chest wall deformity, hypospadias, umbilical hernia, cleft palate repair) in pediatric patients. More randomized controlled trials are needed to establish regional anesthesia as an essential component of postoperative analgesia management in children.

Single-dose intravenous diclofenac for acute postoperative pain in adults

BACKGROUND

Postoperative administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reduces patient opioid requirements and, in turn, reduces the incidence and severity of opioid-induced adverse events (AEs).

OBJECTIVES

To assess the analgesic efficacy and adverse effects of single-dose intravenous diclofenac, compared with placebo or an active comparator, for moderate to severe postoperative pain in adults.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the following databases without language restrictions: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Cochrane Register of Studies Online), MEDLINE, and Embase on 22 May 2018. We checked clinical trials registers and reference lists of retrieved articles for additional studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomized trials that compared a single postoperative dose of intravenous diclofenac with placebo or another active treatment, for treating acute postoperative pain in adults following any surgery.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. Two review authors independently considered trials for review inclusion, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data.Our primary outcome was the number of participants in each arm achieving at least 50% pain relief over a four- and six-hour period.Our secondary outcomes were time to, and number of participants using rescue medication; withdrawals due to lack of efficacy, AEs, and for any cause; and number of participants experiencing any AE, serious AEs (SAEs), and NSAID-related AEs. We performed a post hoc analysis of opioid-related AEs, to enable indirect comparisons with other analyses of postoperative analgesics.For subgroup analysis, we planned to analyze different doses and formulations of parenteral diclofenac separately.We assessed the overall quality of the evidence for each outcome using GRADE and created two 'Summary of findings' tables.

MAIN RESULTS

We included eight studies, involving 1756 participants undergoing various surgeries (dental, mixed minor, abdominal, and orthopedic), with 20 to 175 participants receiving intravenous diclofenac in each study. Mean study population ages ranged from 24.5 years to 54.5 years. Intravenous diclofenac doses varied among and within studies, ranging from 3.75 mg to 75 mg. Five studies assessed newer formulations of parenteral diclofenac that could be administered as an undiluted intravenous bolus. Most studies had an unclear risk of bias for several domains and a high risk of bias due to small sample size. The overall quality of evidence for each outcome was generally low for reasons including unclear risk of bias in studies, imprecision, and low event numbers.Primary outcomeThree studies (277 participants) produced a number needed to treat for an additional beneficial outcome (NNTB) for at least 50% of maximum pain relief versus placebo of 2.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9 to 3.1) over four hours (low-quality evidence). Four studies (436 participants) produced an NNTB of 3.8 versus placebo (95% CI 2.9 to 5.9) over six hours (low-quality evidence). No studies provided data for the comparison of intravenous diclofenac with another NSAID over four hours. At six hours there was no difference between intravenous diclofenac and another NSAID (low-quality evidence).Secondary outcomesFor secondary efficacy outcomes, intravenous diclofenac was generally superior to placebo and similar to other NSAIDs.For time to rescue medication, comparison of intravenous diclofenac versus placebo demonstrated a median of 226 minutes for diclofenac versus 80 minutes for placebo (5 studies, 542 participants, low-quality evidence). There were insufficient data for pooled analysis for comparisons of diclofenac with another NSAID (very low-quality evidence).For the number of participants using rescue medication, two studies (235 participants) compared diclofenac with placebo. The number needed to treat to prevent one additional harmful event (NNTp) (here, the need for rescue medication) compared with placebo was 3.0 (2.2 to 4.5, low-quality evidence). The comparison of diclofenac with another NSAID included only one study (98 participants). The NNTp was 4.5 (2.5 to 33) for ketorolac versus diclofenac (very low-quality evidence).The numbers of participants withdrawing were generally low and inconsistently reported (very low-quality evidence). Participant withdrawals were: 6% (8/140) diclofenac versus 5% (7/128) placebo, and 9% (8/87) diclofenac versus 7% (6/82) another NSAID for lack of efficacy; 2% (4/211) diclofenac versus 0% (0/198) placebo, and 3% (4/138) diclofenac versus 2% (2/129) another NSAID due to AEs; and 11% (21/191) diclofenac versus 17% (30/179) placebo, and 18% (21/118) diclofenac versus 15% (17/111) another NSAID for any cause.Overall adverse event rates were similar between intravenous diclofenac and placebo (71% in both groups, 2 studies, 296 participants) and between intravenous diclofenac and another NSAID (55% and 58%, respectively, 2 studies, 265 participants) (low-quality evidence for both comparisons). Serious and specific AEs were rare, preventing meta-analysis.There were sufficient data for a dose-effect analysis for our primary outcome for only one alternative dose, 18.75 mg. Analysis of the highest dose employed in each study demonstrated a relative benefit compared with placebo of 1.9 (1.4 to 2.4), whereas for the group receiving 18.75 mg, the relative benefit versus placebo was 1.6 (1.2 to 2.1, 2 studies). Compared to another NSAID, the high-dose analysis demonstrated a relative benefit of 0.9 (0.8 to 1.1), for the group receiving 18.75 mg, the relative benefit was 0.78 (0.65 to 0.93). For direct comparison of high dose versus 18.75 mg, the proportion of participants with at least 50% pain relief was 66% (90/137) for the high-dose arm versus 57% (77/135) in the low-dose arm. There were insufficient data for subgroup meta-analysis of different diclofenac formulations.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The amount and quality of evidence for the use of intravenous diclofenac as a treatment for postoperative pain is low. The available evidence indicates that postoperative intravenous diclofenac administration offers good pain relief for the majority of patients, but further research may impact this estimate. Adverse events appear to occur at a similar rate to other NSAIDs. Insufficient information is available to assess whether intravenous diclofenac has a different rate of bleeding, renal dysfunction, or cardiovascular events versus other NSAIDs. There was insufficient information to evaluate the efficacy and safety of newer versus traditional formulations of intravenous diclofenac. There was a lack of studies in major and cardiovascular surgeries and in elderly populations, which may be at increased risk for adverse events.

Anesthetic therapy for acute pain relief after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: systematic review

Inappropriate therapy of postoperative pain in laparoscopic cholecystectomy may lead to late mobilization, patient dissatisfaction, delayed hospital discharge, and chronic pain development. Our objective was to identify the best therapeutic strategy available to the anesthesiologist for the acute postoperative pain of patients submitted to elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This is a systematic review that included 36 complete articles indexed in the Medline, Scopus, Web of Science and LILACS databases, with a five-year time cut (2012 to 2016), resulting from controlled and randomized studies that were submitted to qualitative analysis. In a proposal for multimodal analgesia, it is important to consider the contraindications, adverse effects, dose and optimal timing of interventions. Non-opioid drugs, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)/cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, gabapentin/pregabalin, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, and others. Opioids may be used at low doses associated with multimodal therapy or are restricted to cases where non-opioid multimodal analgesia is insufficient. We conclude that there is no consensus as to the best analgesic strategy to be implemented in the acute postoperative pain of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which requires its applicability in an individualized way, based on the scientific evidence found in the literature. As contribution to medical learning and practice, we point out the theoretical enrichment of the analgesic drug options available for the therapy of postoperative pain in patients submitted to elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and alert the team to consider the adverse effects of the interventions implemented.