Ibuprofen is the best painkiller for kids

Emergency room doctors attending on kids who come in with broken bones, bruises and sprains can use ibuprofen with the knowledge it is the best painkiller for children.

In a study at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, researchers found ibuprofen the most effective beating acetaminophen and codeine. Results were published in the March edition of Pediatrics released on Monday.

The group of 300 children aged between 6 and 17 were randomly assigned to receive standard doses of one of the three medicines. They were asked to rate their pain on a 100-point scale before and after taking the medicine.

Thirty minutes after taking the medicine, the three groups gave the same ratings. But starting an hour later, children who got ibuprofen reported significantly greater pain relief and there was a drop of 24 points on the scale. The acetaminophen group reported a drop of 12 points only and codeine 11 points. The differences persisted until about two hours.

Also at 60 minutes, more than half the children of the ibuprofen group had adequate pain relief as defined by the doctors with scores below 30 as against 36% of the children in the acetaminophen group and 40% of the codeine group.

Dr Eric Clark of the University of Ottawa, who led the study, said his was the first to compare all the three drugs. Previous studies of ibuprofen and acetaminophen have given conflicting results.

Parents face confusion in choosing the right painkiller because both acetaminophen and ibuprofen work against fevers. Codeine is a mild narcotic and is available only by prescription. Dr Clark said his study should help clinching the choice.

Dr Steven Krug, head of emergency medicine at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital said the study validated the practice of doctors who often prefer using ibuprofen for children with broken bones.

He added, ibuprofen works better for pain from trauma because it targets inflammation while acetaminophen and codeine do not.

Ibuprofen is available generically as Advil and Motrin, while acetaminophen is sold as Tylenol. McNeil Consumer Healthcare makes both Children’s Motrin and Children’s Tylenol. It issued a statement saying the study confirmed that ibuprofen and acetaminophen are effective painkillers in treating emergency body injuries. The company also said that the two drugs work differently.