A double-blind comparison of meptazinol versus paracetamol and placebo in acute and chronic painful conditions presented to the general practitioner.

A double-blind study was carried out in 90 patients with acute or chronic painful musculoskeletal conditions of at least moderate severity to compare the effectiveness over a 72-hour period of oral treatment, 3 to 6 hourly, with 200 mg meptazinol, 1 g paracetamol and placebo. Assessments of pain by physicians and patients indicated that both active treatments produced effective analgesia compared with placebo. No significant differences were observed between meptazinol and paracetamol. The frequency of adverse effects reported was low and similar in all three treatment groups.