Ciramadol--a new synthetic analgesic. A double-blind comparison with oral codeine for postoperative pain relief.

One hundred and eighty patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists rating 1-2) received one of three oral analgesics--ciramadol (Wy. 15705) 20 mg, ciramadol 60 mg or codeine 60 mg--on a double-blind random basis for the relief of pain 24-48 hours after major general surgical, gynaecological or orthopaedic operations. All three analgesics proved equally effective and caused mild sedation only. No patient showed signs of clinical cardiorespiratory depression, and other side-effects were infrequent. Ciramadol may therefore prove a useful clinical alternative to conventional oral analgesics provided its lack of respiratory depressant properties and addiction potential in monkeys can be substantiated in humans.