Acetaminophen (Paracetamol) or Opioid Analgesia Added to Ibuprofen for Children’s Musculoskeletal Injury

Does addition of acetaminophen or hydromorphone to ibuprofen improve pain relief for children with nonoperative acute limb injury?In these 2 randomized clinical trials of 699 children who presented to an emergency department less than 24 hours after a nonoperative acute limb injury, addition of 1 dose of oral acetaminophen or hydromorphone to ibuprofen did not significantly reduce self-reported pain scores at 60 minutes. Use of hydromorphone resulted in a 4-fold increase in adverse events.For children with acute nonoperative limb injuries, pain scores did not improve with addition of either acetaminophen or hydromorphone to ibuprofen; adverse events were higher with hydromorphone.

Corresponding Author: Samina Ali, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine sali@ualberta.ca).

Link to the article in your story

We encourage you to link out to this article in your story using the link below. It includes an access token that will give free access to the article for your readers up to one year after publication. (The link will be live after the article publishes and embargo is lifted.)

Please see the article for additional information, including full author list, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Need more information? Contact us.