The effect of an ibuprofen-codeine combination for the treatment of patients with pain after removal of lower third molars.

A double-blind randomized crossover analgesic trial was carried out on 70 patients undergoing surgical removal of one lower third molar at each visit. The analgesic efficacy of a two-dose regimen of the combination ibuprofen-codeine, 400 to 60 mg, was compared with ibuprofen, 400 mg. Each of the two doses was taken when the patient needed pain relief and the pain intensity was measured on a visual analog scale during the 10-hour period after the first medication. Because of carryover effects between periods 1 and 2, the analysis was carried out only for period 1 according to a parallel group design. Of the 60 patients who were evaluated for analgesic effect, the mean pain reduction of dose 1 was 63% for the 29 patients given ibuprofen-codeine and 50% for the 31 patients given ibuprofen; the mean duration of effect was 7.5 and 6.3 hours, respectively. The difference in pain reduction index (pain reduction X duration of effect) between the two treatments was significant in favor of the combination, whereas the separate variables of pain reduction and duration of effect were not significantly different. The mean pain reduction was 67% after doses 1 and 2 for patients on ibuprofen-codeine and 52% for those on ibuprofen; the mean duration of effect was 9.4 and 9.2 hours, respectively. For doses 1 and 2, the difference in pain reduction index per dose between the two treatments was significant but not the difference for the separate variables, pain reduction, and duration of effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)